The Reflection of the U.S. Withdrawal from the JCPOA in Arab and European Media

Arab media have shown conflicting reactions to Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA; these reactions seem to vary based on their orientation and approach towards the U.S. Al-Ahram, a semi-official Egyptian newspaper, writes, "The time has come to correct the mistakes of the Obama administration. It is time to shorten Iran's claws, weaken relations with Russia, and neutralize Iran's presence in Yemen and Syria. At the same time, the significant achievements that American arms companies gained from playing with the Iranian scarecrow must be preserved." Egypt is a historical ally of the United States, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has a close relationship with Donald Trump. Washington has been providing $1.2 billion annually to the Egyptian military for decades, a figure that saw a slight decrease last year. Arab News, an English-language newspaper in Saudi Arabia, rewrites one of Riyadh's leaders' arguments: "The Iranian government, instead of using the billions of dollars returned to it through the nuclear agreement to boost the economy and improve the living standards of its people, has allocated this money to continue supporting terrorism. Paris and London may not like President Trump's decision, but how would the French and British feel if their cities were under direct threat from the Iranians?" Al-Ittihad, in the United Arab Emirates, wrote that the White House's decision is "the right situation that has been wrong from the beginning. Iran considered the JCPOA signature as a green light to control the region and has unleashed its terrorist militias in many Arab countries." Iran has denied supporting terrorism while accusing Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorist groups. In Beirut, the leftist newspaper Al-Akhbar writes, "The language of escalation and sanctions has replaced relative calm in Iran. The ceasefire lasted more than three years. But now the U.S. president has overturned the table that has turned the whole world upside down." Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor of this newspaper, wrote last week, "This is a global confrontation, an expanding process that will involve all of us without exception in the coming days." The reputable magazine Der Spiegel, published in Hamburg, Germany, states that Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA has divided Iran into two parts; it says that newspapers politically closer to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani downplay the consequences of Trump's decision. This article emphasizes that the European Union did not participate in Trump's decision. According to Der Spiegel, the realization of economic aspirations in Iran has not been possible. Although most sanctions against Iran were suspended after the JCPOA, foreign investments in the country have been far less than expected. After it became clear that Trump would become the U.S. president, discussions about the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA increased. Therefore, the willingness of Western companies to invest in Iran decreased. The biggest problem is that banks are reluctant to provide loans for investment in Iran due to fear of U.S. retaliatory actions. Der Spiegel continued that with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, "the hands of conservative forces in Iran, who were opposed to this agreement from the beginning, have been loosened; those who always said that the U.S. should not be trusted have now been validated." The German publication references the Iran-Iraq war, stating that Iran survived this war: "Iran's population has doubled since then, and economically, Iran's situation is much better than some Arab countries. Additionally, Tehran can emphasize that major regional powers like Russia and China have no interest in instability or regime change in Iran." Despite this, it is expected that the decline in the value of the rial against the dollar will increase after the sanctions. This will lead to higher import costs and inflation. The victims of this process are the middle class and the low-income class. In any case, the Iranian government will try to ensure that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as the military backbone, bears the least amount of economic pressure. According to Der Spiegel, the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA does not diminish Iran's influence in the region: "Iran's growing power is not the result of this resolution, but Iran has effectively utilized the mistakes of the U.S. and its Arab allies in recent years." The British newspaper The Guardian writes that tensions had significantly increased before Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. Regarding the re-imposition of sanctions, Trump referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements, who claimed that Israel has more documents to prove Iran's nuclear activities. Netanyahu, a staunch critic of this agreement, said, "Israel today supports President Trump's decision to reject the passive nuclear treaty with the terrorist regime in Tehran." He stated that Israel opposed this agreement because it opened the way for Iran to become a complete nuclear bomb arsenal. The U.S. Treasury Department has provided a fact sheet outlining plans to reinstate extensive sanctions against Iran. John Bolton, the U.S. National Security Advisor, also stated that the United States would not comply with the United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed the JCPOA. Barack Obama, who achieved this agreement during his presidency, described the violation of this agreement as a "serious mistake." According to The Guardian, many upcoming issues and events depend on Tehran's reactions; where hardliners were the most vocal opponents of this agreement and want to force Iran to fully revive its nuclear activities.