How would you spell ETTD in Farsi?
Something about this story makes me very sad. Trump’s (and all of his chicken hawk cronies) continued destruction of the fragile fabric of peace makes me shudder for my children and grandchildren. It is like building up your credit for a lifetime and then having someone hack into your accounts and destroy everything. The Republicans’ willingness to tolerate this for the sake of re-elections and keeping their hold on power is, in the end, virtual treason.
Do not be surprised if he was paid a handsome sum to resign, through some convoluted money trail that were it somehow deciphered led back to Trump.
Blessed are the peacemakers…
He must feel so betrayed by the U.S. I hope there is some meager satisfaction for him when Trump, Bolton, and the rest of this criminal maladministration are moldering in prison.
It’s also a freaking disaster which will have very long term effects.
After seeing what Trump did with Iran, will NK ever give up its pursuit for nuclear power? If their leaders were even slightly rational they absolutely would not. Because Trump has broken a cardinal rule which is that Presidents keep the foreign policy promises and treaties made by their predecessors. Even if the NK leaders believed Trump would not punish them if the threat of nuclear weapons didn’t exist, they cannot be sure his successor, or a President 12 years down the line would.
There is a reason Europeans were basically risking all sorts of detrimental measures to keep the Iran deal going. Not because they have any loyalty to Iran. But because they know the reputational damage would undo many decades worth of soft power.
Then again the picture of Fatama may have been a hint that someone he loves was threatened. Dirty rubles.
The treaty Mohammad Javad Zarif negotiated with the P5+1 was an amazing diplomatic achievement, especially considering domestic opposition by hardliners in both the US and Iran. It represented a good faith effort by Iran to end its isolation and join the community of nations. Long term trends in Iran could align with US interests (e.g., 2/3rds of Iranian college graduates are women), as long as US foreign policy is managed carefully post-Benito the Cheeto, but that’ll be a tall order given the already severe damage to US credibility.
Aside from Trump, It’s completely ass-backwards that we’ve put so much effort into backing up Saudi Arabia to counter Iran when the former is completely and hopelessly antithetical to everything the US stands for. Saudi Arabia isn’t even really a typical nation-state; it’s more of a crime syndicate with internationally recognized borders.
Regarding US withdrawal from both this treaty and especially the Paris Agreement/COP21, the larger ramifications for US credibility on the world stage are easy to predict:
PS: Zarif is an alumnus of SFSU. Go Gators 
the nuclear deal he negotiated with world powers stands on the verge of collapse after the U.S. withdrawal from the accord.
Where the hell is the evidence for “collapse” of the Iran nuclear deal? That is a Trump lie (but yes it is an AP article). Last I heard, other signatories (CH, UK, EU, RU, GE) are continuing the deal, and told the US to shove it up their ass.
"….officials in the Trump administration have increased their pressure on Iran on social media as well, with one State Department official tweeting an unflattering GIF of Zarif saying: “How do you know @JZarif is lying? His lips are moving.”
WTF??! Whoever this jerk is, he (I’m giving women credit for not being such complete assholes) should be given his walking papers instanter. But then, rotting fish and all that.
Nuclear weapons in the US arsenal are based on a seven-decade-old design. After the 1970s, testing for test ban treaty countries was sort of off the table. You had Israel and South Africa ostensibly testing their designs in the 1980s, but South Africa got completely out of the nuke business within a decade. Today you have traditional powers wanting to renege on old treaties and/or find a rogue state partner interested in developing modern nukes. Whatever is going on can’t please the Chinese or the Iranians.
So the State Dept. tweets insults to this man. How thoroughly unprofessional and inappropriate. Disgusting and dangerous.
How could you tell if Ronald Wilson Reagan was lying?
How can you tell if Donald J. Trump is lying?
Mike Pompeo?
John Bolton?
Lindsey Graham?
Mitch McConnell?
People with glass houses, etc.
It is funny how the Iranian hardliners (like the US Dixie-GOP) will play the long game with any of their many problems and negative issues, but the Iran JPOA is “on the verge of collapse.”
The Russians continue to win with this.
Truth be told, once you understand the physics…and I mean really understand the physics…you can update designs using extremely accurate simulation without testing the big boom. Yes, there are always empiricists who will demand proof, but the one thing the USA is known for is over-design.