Iran’s nukesTearing up Iran nuclear deal would be “disastrous”: Former IAEA director

Hans Blix, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it would be disastrous for the world if the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, but warned that President-Elect Donald Trump would be unlikely to listen to advice from the British government on the advantages of keeping the deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May insisted last week that the agreement “neutralizing” the risk of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons was vital, but Blix said that while “many Brits would like to think” they could sway Trump, he could not see “anyone who would be influential in talking to him.”

“The special relationship, the old brotherhood? I don’t know whether he would be open to such things,” Blix told the Observer at the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe held in London. “Maybe the Brits will talk about the golf course in Scotland? I think he is not a very international figure but I can’t indicate anyone who would be influential in talking to him.”

The Independent reports that Trump has threatened to scrap the nuclear deal which required Iran to scale down its nuclear weapons-related activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

During the presidential campaign, Trump told supporters that his main foreign policy objective was to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.”

In a speech last week, May stressed her belief in the importance of the 2015 agreement: “We secured a deal that has neutralised the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons for more than a decade.”

Blix said he believed that the solidarity of the EU signatories could be an important influence.

He said: “I think the signs from the EU are pretty categorical. It is an agreement reached multilaterally and they will stand by it. I don’t think the Europeans would allow any American attempt to tear it apart.

“On the U.S. side they should realize that if they unilaterally decided to reintroduce sanctions they might not be able to bring the others along. It will be messy. And in that situation the Americans may think twice.”

Vladimir Dvorkin, chairman of the organizing committee of the Luxemburg Forum, said, “We would hope that the new U.S. administration would be able to reverse the negative trends and start discussions, including on nuclear security. In the last ten years, the threat of nuclear catastrophe has not weakened.

“Work has been suspended on agreements. It is a shame to lose such agreements and we all hope dialogue will be resumed.”