Daily Times

If Donald Trump’s maiden speech at the UN has demonstrated to the world one thing, it is this: he simply didn’t get the memo. Someone somewhere really ought to have taken the trouble of spelling it out for him. That the above anacronym doesn’t, in fact, stand for Unilateral Nation. Similarly, there should have been a quiet whisper in his ear, reminding him that just because the world body headquarters happen to be in New York — doesn’t mean that the US is its chief.

If only somebody, anybody had. Then the apprentice-president wouldn’t have made such a spectacle of himself. Yet there he stood on the podium addressing an international audience of so-called peace-loving nations, threatening to tear up the paperwork on the Iran nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The latter, of course, is an UN-sponsored agreement, which came into effect by way of Security Council resolution 2231. In other words, no one party to it can unilaterally withdraw from it on a wing and a prayer. So there we have it. Alanis Morissette isn’t the only one who needs a lesson in the true meaning of irony.

Iran, of course, stands accused of backing the Syrian regime. Well, so too, does Putin. And yet this didn’t stop the unquiet American from sharing with the Russians classified information about an ISIS terrorist plot. Indeed, Trump even told the whole world that he did not name Israel as the intelligence source

While Trump is largely portrayed as the rogue component of a White House team by those who are themselves on the inside — the US Secretary of State gave his boss a rather good run for his money, though without the colourful lexicon. Rex Tillerson and the Iranian Foreign Minister met on the sidelines of the General Assembly moot. The former was petulant as he explained that the American disquiet over the nuclear deal was grounded in politics as opposed to technicalities. Despite the IAEA having recently confirmed that Tehran is playing by the nuclear rulebook. The man who replaced Hillary as the top US diplomat seemingly objected to the JCPOA preamble that assured the accord would lead to a more stable Middle East. That the region is in flames proves, according to Tillerson, that Iran has reneged on its commitments towards this end.

Yet as everyone knows, maybe even Billy Joel, Iran didn’t start the fire. It didn’t get giddy on the head rush of decimating first Iraq, then Libya and now Syria. It isn’t doing its best from behind-the-scenes to turn the entire Gulf region against Qatar due to the latter’s recognition of Hamas as a legitimate Palestinian partner for peace. Tehran, of course, also stands accused of backing the Syrian regime. Well, so too, does Putin. And yet this didn’t stop the unquiet American President from sharing with the Russians classified information about an ISIS terrorist plot. Trump, taking a lead from a former US president who faced impeachment charges, even went as far as disclosing the intelligence source by telling the whole world that he did not name Israel.

All of which left it to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to play the elder statesman, a role which he eloquently fulfilled. Asking those present to imagine how the Middle East would look without the JCPOA — he went on to stress that his country is the frontline state fighting terrorism and religious extremism in the region. While Israel remains the real rogue nuclear power on the block. And others profit from the sale of deadly weapons. The latter was an extremely thinly veiled reference to the massive US-Saudi arms deal concluded on the sidelines of the Riyadh summit on Islamic terrorism that ended up being little more than a get together to up the warmongering ante against Iran.

It was President Rouhani who took to the world stage to talk of a just peace for all. While Mr Trump — who may or may not be the gentleman to whom the Iranian leader was referring when he talked of rogue newcomers to the world of politics — couldn’t have been more bullish when he declared that the US is ready, willing and able to destroy the North Korean regime.

Is anyone at the IAEA listening?

The writer is the Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Times. She can be reached at mirandahusain@me.com and tweets @humeiwei

Published in Daily Times, September 22^nd 2017.