U.S. Removes Iran Sanctions Information—Has Trump Compromised?
Has Trump really given in like this?
On the 5th, Reuters noticed that the U.S. Department of the Treasury had removed information about sanctions against Iran from its official website. However, when media outlets requested comment on the matter, a U.S. official firmly insisted that removing the sanctions information did not signify any "shift" in America's policy stance.
This stubborn denial sounds eerily familiar—last time U.S. officials made such strenuous excuses was when they denied reports of depleted U.S. military ammunition stocks. Yet, this doesn't explain why Trump suddenly called a halt to hostilities with Iran.
Back to the main point. At the same time, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that Iran and Oman are about to finalize a new agreement regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This agreement would end the U.S.-Iran conflict and allow Iran, in some form, to control passage through the strait.
Oman’s presence at the negotiating table clearly could not have happened without U.S. tacit approval. Oman essentially serves as America’s representative on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, enabling Trump to extricate himself from war without losing face and minimizing diplomatic losses as much as possible.
Nevertheless, it remains uncertain whether this agreement will withstand the test of time—there is no guarantee it won’t be torn up again by Trump. After all, Trump’s current priority is simply surviving the midterm elections: for the sake of the midterms, anything can be temporarily compromised; once the election is over, Trump is highly likely to renege immediately.
We’ve just witnessed this scenario unfold recently: shortly after his birthday and the Fourth of July celebrations, Trump instantly scrapped the ceasefire agreement and the U.S.-Iran memorandum, restarting the war against Iran.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872748731771916/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.