Even Iran deal critics don’t want Trump to blow it up

Cooler heads are hoping one orange head cools down as well.

As the reality of Donald Trump’s White House win sinks in among nuclear deal opponents, some are insisting that pulling out of the agreement is unwise. Instead, they say, Trump should step up enforcement of the deal, look for ways to renegotiate it, and pursue measures to punish Iran for its non-nuclear misbehavior. Such a multi-pronged, get-tough approach may even give Trump cover to fend off any criticism he may get for keeping the deal.

It’s a remarkable moment for the anti-deal crowd, which includes Israel’s prime minister, Saudi princes and Republican lawmakers. Many tried to keep the deal from ever being reached, accused outgoing President Barack Obama of appeasing an enemy and used the agreement to knock Democrats during the 2016 campaign. Now that they have a shot at scuttling the deal they hate so much, they are urging caution.

GOP Sen. Bob Corker, who opposed the deal as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke out against immediately discarding the deal in interviews with cable channels on both Wednesday and Tuesday. The problem is that, as part of the agreement, Iran already has accessed billions of dollars in once-frozen assets, Corker said. Plus, the U.S. is just one of seven countries involved in the deal, in which the United Nations and the European Union also play a role…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly advised Trump on what to do, but much of the Israeli security establishment is supportive of the agreement even if Netanyahu isn’t. In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the opposition appears to have softened. Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former government official whose views are said to reflect that of many in the monarchy, recently said Trump should not scrap the deal because doing so “willy-nilly, as it were, will have ramifications.” One strong possibility is that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states will urge Trump to offer them more military and intelligence assistance to counter Iran in places such as Yemen.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.