Tides of Change in Iran and The US: Implications for the Philippines

Abstract

Since the change of administration in the United States, there has been declining enthusiasm to move forward the Joint Cooperation Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump’s vocal, antagonistic stance on Iran sparked an exchange of rhetoric and provocative actions and reactions between the US and Iran, with Trump going as far as calling the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated”; thus, quickly overturning the conciliatory political climate cultivated during the administrations of former US president Barack Obama and the moderate and pragmatic Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. Trump’s election is one thing; the upcoming presidential election in Iran on May 19 is another. Given the domestic developments in Iran, it is clear that the outcome of the elections will be crucial to the fate of the nuclear deal and Iran’s current global and regional position.