The president of the United States responded to Iran with a threatening tone. Is it of concern?

An exchange of threats has been made between the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and that of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hasan Rouhani. The leader of the Asian country said that "a war with Iran would be the mother of all wars", according to the news agency of that country, INSA. For his part, Trump told his counterpart that "never threaten the United States or suffer consequences that very few have suffered before in history."

Leer en español: Trump vs Rouhaní: ¿podría escalar la tensión?

These phrases are only fragments of the threats that have been lacing from each party during the past few days, which, taking IGNORE INTO account the recent departure of the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran, only contributes to the tension that exists between the two countries.

In fact, it was the issue of the nuclear program for Iran that sparked this confrontation of declarations between the two countries; after the US refusal to accept the terms of the deal, it imposed even more severe sanctions that would strongly affect the Iranian economy.

However, are the threats that the leaders of both countries make something to be feared? Similar situations of the Trump government with other countries must be reviewed. North Korea became, until recently, one of the central themes of the administration of the day. It was common to find tweets from the American president attacking and mocking the leader of the North Korean regime, Kim Jong-un.

"Rocket Man" was one of President Trump's favorite nicknames to refer to the North Korean leader, inspired by Elton John's popular song of the same name and Kim's urgency to strengthen his country's nuclear weapons program. On one occasion he also called him "short and fat". Despite this, Trump mediated the approach of the governments of South Korea and his neighbor to the north, which opens the hope for the end of the conflict still in force since 1953. A few months later, he met with Kim himself.

Both in the case of Iran's nuclear deal and in the meeting between Trump and Kim, it is clear that the United States ends up seeing its interests well protected against those of other countries. Iran had to limit its uranium enrichment processes, among other measures, as part of its obligations in the deal and, as a result, the US would lift the economic sanctions.

Although the sanctions were reimposed pending a new negotiation, Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Spanish newspaper El Economista, an area where more than 30% of the oil that is traded worldwide is transported. which poses a serious threat to world trade.

What may happen from now on is unpredictable. Until a year ago, the escalation of tension between North Korea and the United States was almost certain, due to the Trump government's protectionist and rebellious nature. Today, we live in a scenario of reconciliation between those countries and South Korea. Additionally, Trump said he would be willing to meet Iran's leaders "as soon as they wish."

That is why it is key that the nuclear pact with Iran materializes, ideally with the conditions provided by the Obama administration, which greatly benefits the US and Iran, albeit in different proportions. It is clear that Americans seek to maximize their benefit, again because of the mentality of the current administration, and that attitude may be unattractive to many members of the international community.

LatinAmerican Post | Iván Parada Hernández

Translated from "Trump vs Rouhaní: ¿podría escalar la tensión?"