The decision by the White House to withdraw from the 2015 Iran deal could affect US efforts to achieve peace in hotspots such as Afghanistan and North Korea, as questions are raised about Washington’s ability to stick to its own agreements.
Attention is now focused on how Pyongyang will react. With a summit expected within weeks between North Korea ’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un and US president Donald Trump, experts say that the latter’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran may complicate any similar agreement to disarm in exchange for sanctions relief.
“The US withdrawal from the Iran deal will certainly raise questions about Trump’s credibility as a negotiating partner,” said Kim Tae-woo, former head of the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.