President of Iran Hassan Rouhani has given the go ahead for the enrichment of uranium, the process that is key in the formation of nuclear weapons, and that the gas has now been injected into over 1000 centrifuges that had been empty under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – or nuclear deal. But the JCPOA was abandoned by President Trump last year, and now Tehran’s nuclear threat is a revived concern for many in the West and the Middle East.
But, according to Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon for Politico, this will inevitably result in fresh clashes between the White House and Iran’s volatile Revolutionary Guard, who are also closely aligned with Russian President Putin.
Mr Benjamin and Mr Simon highlight that the initial abandonment of the deal sparked crippling sanctions applied by Washington on Iran’s economy – an attempt to pressurise the leadership in Tehran to put an end to their nuclear ambitions.
They argue that the latest spike in weapons development will only spark more outrage from Mr Trump, and the sanctions that have been so infuriating to those in Tehran will be tightened further.
While President Trump looks to renegotiate the 2015 JCPOA, he is outnumbered by many other countries, including Russia, who want to preserve it.
Just as the US seemed to have left the Kremlin as the new power brokers in the Middle East, the Iran dispute could see Washington come head to head with Moscow again as nations in the west and east seek a resolution.
However, while Mr Trump is accustomed to battling Russia and China in geopolitical rows, the US President will also have to overcome NATO allies in the form of EU countries, who also still support the JCPOA, which Mr Trump has described as “the worst deal ever.”
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Despite Rouhani’s defiance, many Western countries, including the US, UK and France roundly accepted that Iran were in fact the perpetrators, sparking months of political and diplomatic disputes that still rage on now.
The Middle East has also been problematic for the US because of Syria, with recent months also plagued by violence after Turkey’s incursion.
The withdrawal of US troops suggested that Mr Trump had got his wish having been eager to depart the region since he began his presidency.
But with Turkey and Iran both causing anger in Washington, the US could be dragged back into the crisis where Mr Putin has seized unrivalled control.