Sir — US President Donald Trump’s pull out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal and his resolve to reinstate economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic is one of the biggest foreign policy decisions taken by him during his presidency till date.
While the move has been hailed as “a decisive step” to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the move by the US clearly defies logic. Actually, the scrapping of the pact will cause serious loss to the Iranian economy and bring its people back to the era of suffering and misery when Tehran was struggling under the strain of sanctions.
Another fallout from the unravelling of the pact is the possibility of Iran to immediately resume work on its nuclear programme. For Tehran, however, all is not completely lost yet.
The nexus it has carefully cultivated over the years with Russia and Syria has received a boost with the re-election of Vladimir Putin as President.
India needs to work with countries with a shared interest in the JCPOA to ensure that President Trump’s exit from the Iran deal does not harm its investments and plans for the region. India and other countries on the same page must also engage with Iran to discourage it from retaliatory malign behaviour that may further muddy the waters.