Trump setting stage to intensify sanctions on Iran

James Petras, a professor emeritus of sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and the author of dozens of books made the remarks.
 
On Tuesday, the US and French presidents called for major changes to Iran’s nuclear deal, despite Tehran’s repeated assertions that the agreement is non-negotiable.
 
"I can say that we have had very frank discussions on that, just the two of us," French President Emmanuel Macron told a joint press conference with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday. "We, therefore, wish from now on to work on a new deal with Iran.”
 
When asked to clarify if he meant a new accord or an add-on agreement, Macron said, "I am not saying that we move from one agreement to another."
 
Macron noted that a new deal should incorporate three additional elements, including Iran's ballistic missile program, the Islamic Republic’s regional influence and what happens after 2025 when Tehran will restart part of its nuclear program under the accord. 
 
The French president described the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), only as the "first pillar" of a wider final agreement.
 
‘Trump wants to disarm Iran of modern weaponry’
 
Professor Petras said, “I think first of all we have to realize that the agreement Macron and Trump goes far beyond the discussions on nuclear experimentation and research. The demands that Trump and Macron are planning or pursuing involve the total disarmament of modern weaponry.”
 
“They are asking Iran to surrender its intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are asking Iran to disassociate itself and even condemn its allies -- Yemen, Syria, Russia, Hezbollah, and any other progressive movements in the Middle East,” he added.  
 
“In other words, they are preparing an agenda which essentially would make Iran vulnerable to any attack from Israel or the US or even Saudi Arabia. I think these demands are clearly unacceptable to any independent government such as in Iran,” the analyst noted.   
 
“And I think the Trump administration is setting the groundwork for a combined European alliance to intensify sanctions on Iran, and to undermine any possibility of peaceful coexistence. And perhaps lacking an agreement of surrender from Iran, they may attempt to launch a kind of war on a regional basis,” he observed.
 
“This is very dangerous for world peace because Iran will not simply serve as a target for the US and Israel but will certainly unleash a regional war as Iran’s allies in the region will certainly join Iran in fighting back in every possible way and in every region under US direction,” the commentator concluded.