The peace of Versailles already in danger? Donald Trump has barely returned to his homeland when the compromise with Iran seems to be in bad shape. The Israeli strikes in South Lebanon were predictable on the part of Tel Aviv, ready to sabotage the American-Iranian framework agreement.
The end of the bombings targeting its Hezbollah proxies was demanded by Tehran to accept, if not a farewell to arms, at least the negotiations on enriched uranium, the reopening of Hormuz, war damages, the lifting of the oil embargo and the freezing of Iran’s assets. In a hurry to put an end to it, Trump drew his pen under the gold of the Sun King, offering the mullahs billions and a way out of forty years of isolation.
Decried in Washington, including by his Republican friends, this triumphant deal brandished at Versailles enraged Benjamin Netanyahu. For Tel Aviv, the “work was not finished” in South Lebanon.
Worse, the Israeli and American strikes damaged Iranian nuclear power but only delayed it by 18 to 36 months at most. The dilution of uranium, of course, is part of the negotiations scheduled by Washington. But, rightly or wrongly, no one believes that Tehran will give up most of its nuclear power and control of the strait. Even less so Israel for whom the annihilation of uranium stocks was the declared war aim.
The rag is burning between Washington and Netanyahu who had lured a war-mongering Trump into the Iranian trap. Furious, JD Vance admonishes Tel Aviv. Staged or real, a possible decoupling between American and Israeli allies sounds like a victory for Iran and a new strategic imbroglio for the White House. Definitely. Where does this leave us?
Peace and the return of the Iranians to the market promised a truce on oil and energy. A renewed global growth. Reassured markets. Even better days, outlined by Donald Trump himself, for Zelensky’s Ukraine. The bride was too beautiful.
