Washington: A lot of the characters are the same for US President-elect Joe Biden but the scene is far starker as he reassembles a team of veteran negotiators to get back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump worked to blow up the multinational deal to contain Iran’s nuclear program during his four years in office, gutting the diplomatic achievement of predecessor Barack Obama in favour of what Trump called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
There are mounting fears regional conflict will erupt, triggered by the accusations, threats and still more sanctions imposed by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in their final days, but also Iran’s decision to spur uranium enrichment and seize a South Korean tanker.
Iran on Friday (Saturday AEDT) staged drills, hurling volleys of ballistic missiles and smashing drones into targets, further raising pressure on the incoming American president over a nuclear accord.
Even before the Capitol riot this month, upheaval at home threatened to weaken the US hand internationally.
Biden and his team will face allies and adversaries wondering how much attention and resolution the US can bring to bear on the Iran nuclear issue or any other foreign concern, and whether any commitment by Biden will be reversed by his successor.
“His ability to move the needle is … I think hampered by the doubt about America’s capacity and by the scepticism and worry about what comes after Biden,” said Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Nasr was an adviser on Afghanistan during the first Obama administration.
Read the article by Ellen Knickmeyer in The Sydney Morning Herald (AP).