President Trump has taken new steps to fulfill his campaign promise to either end the Iran nuclear agreement or get a better deal. After much speculation over whether he would extend the deal at all, the President issued an ultimatum to Congress and European allies indicating that if they don't overhaul the deal in the next 120 days, the United States will have no choice but to pull out of it.
To discuss what these developments, alongside growing protests in Iran over the state of the nation's economic affairs, mean for energy markets and international affairs, host Jason Bordoff sits down with two colleagues at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Gary Sick and Richard Nephew.
Gary is a senior research scholar at Columbia’s Middle East Institute and an adjunct professor at SIPA. He served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan and he was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Richard, a senior research scholar at CGEP and adjunct professor at SIPA, served as Principal Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy at the Department of State. He was the lead sanctions expert for the U.S. team negotiating with Iran and also Director for Iran on the National Security Staff where he was responsible for managing a period of intense expansion of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Jason, Gary, and Richard discuss issues including: What happens next in EU countries and U.S. Congress in response to President Trump's ultimatum; Growing protests in Iran and the future of the Iranian regime; Whether or not there are links between economic sanctions against Iran and growing protests in the country; Implications for energy markets should the Iran Deal fall through.
