Tensions are escalating between the US and Iran after the Trump administration re-imposed economic sanctions against Iran last week. This news followed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Trump has threatened other countries seeking to trade with Iran, tweeting, “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States.” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the sanctions as “psychological warfare,” saying last week he would not begin negotiations until the sanctions are withdrawn. We speak with Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He served as spokesperson for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the European Union from 2003 to 2005.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We begin with a look at escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. On Sunday, the US Ambassador to Britain Woody Johnson wrote an op-ed in The Telegraph urging Britain to withdraw its support of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Ambassador Johnson wrote, “America is turning up the pressure and we want the UK by our side.”
Johnson’s op-ed comes after the Trump administration re-imposed economic sanctions against Iran last week following Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. The sanctions increase tensions between the US and Iran, and the US and its European allies. Trump has threatened other countries seeking to trade with Iran, tweeting “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States.” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the sanctions as psychological warfare, saying last week he would not begin negotiations until the sanctions are withdrawn.
PRESIDENT HASSAN