The long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict in West Asia has been overshadowed by new flashpoints in the region, both internal and external, since the Arab Spring. The fight against the Islamic State and its offshoots, beginning with Iraq; the Syrian conflict that has drawn in the U.S., Russia, Iran and Turkey; renewed skirmishing between Israel and Iran across the Golan Heights; and the civil war in Yemen where the involvement of Saudi Arabia and Iran has heightened tensions, exposing old regional fault lines. Growing drumbeats of a wider conflict can threaten to overturn the boundaries imposed after World War I. To this volatile mix, new uncertainty was added on May 8 when President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. was walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A flurry of diplomatic activity followed with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visiting Beijing, Moscow and Brussels. In Brussels, he met the E-3 (France, Germany and U.K.) Foreign Ministers and the European Union (EU) High Representative Federica Mogherini to explore how the deal could be salvaged. This was followed by a summit in Sofia later in May where the EU leaders directed the European Commission to activate the Blocking Statute which forbids European companies from complying with the extra-territorial effects of U.S. sanctions. It also asked the European Investment Bank to set up a special purpose vehicle to protect European companies’ investments in Iran.
Conceived in 1996, the Blocking Statute was a response to U.S. legislation imposing extra-territorial sanctions on companies engaging with Cuba. It empowered the EU to sequester assets of U.S. companies in Europe, equivalent to the penalties imposed on European companies. Eventually, the stand-off was resolved by introducing a waiver. The difference is that in 1996, the Clinton administration was sympathetic to the EU stand but in 2018, the Trump administration is prepared to be tougher than the U.S. Congress! This is clear from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech at the Heritage Foundation on May 21 that unveiled a dozen conditions for Iran to fulfil including a permanent end to uranium enrichment, unfettered access for the inspectors, end to missile proliferation, ending support to Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi rebels (Yemen), Shia militias (Iraq) and Taliban and complete withdrawal from Syria. It is not a Plan B but an ultimatum, with no room for dialogue or diplomacy. Moreover, it throws down the gauntlet not just to Iran but also to its European partners. Many Europeans have expressed support for curbing Iran’s missile proliferation and testing and finding a way to extend nuclear enrichment restrictions beyond the 15-year timeframe set by the JCPOA. However, rather than walk away while Iran remains in full compliance with its obligations, the E-3 and EU would like to preserve the JCPOA and build upon it. On the other hand, the Trump administration would like to tear up the JCPOA and push Iran to negotiate a new deal under pressure of stronger sanctions. The push for JCPOA had come with the realisation by the Obama administration that Iran had successfully accelerated its uranium enrichment programme after the slowdown caused by the Stuxnet attack in 2009. By November 2013 when negotiations began and Iran agreed to freeze its programme, it was in a position to produce enough highly enriched uranium (25 kg) for one nuclear bomb within three months. After Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, kinetic options were off the table and there was no appetite for regime change. Post-Arab Spring, Barack Obama felt that the U.S.’s West Asia policy of dual containment served Israeli and Saudi interests but restricted American options in the region. He concluded that the JCPOA with its stringent verification provisions would slow down Iran’s nuclear programme, freezing it for 15 years, with accompanying sanctions relief strengthening the moderate elements in Iran represented by President Hassan Rouhani, and consequently increasing U.S. diplomatic options.
1. Skirmish: (noun) : झड़प
Meaning: an episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting, especially between small or outlying parts of armies or fleets
Synonyms: battle, clash, combat, conflict, contest, dustup, fight, fracas, fray, hassle, scrap, scrimmage, scuffle, struggle, tussle
Antonyms: truce
2. Salvage: (verb) : क्षति से बचाना
Meaning: retrieve or preserve (something) from potential loss or adverse circumstances.
Synonyms: reclaim, recover, redeem, regain, glean, salve
Antonyms: abandon, lose, forfeit, endanger
3. Forbid: (verb) : बाधा देना
Meaning: refuse to allow (something).
Synonyms: ban, bar, enjoin, interdict, outlaw, prohibit, proscribe
Antonyms: allow, let, permit, suffer
4. Sequester: (verb) : जुदा करना
Meaning: isolate or hide away.
Synonyms: cut off, insulate, isolate, seclude, segregate, separate
Antonyms: desegregate, integrate, reintegrate
5. Unveil: (verb) : अनावरण करना
Meaning: show or announce publicly for the first time.
Synonyms: bare, disclose, discover, divulge, expose, let on (about), reveal, spill, tell, unbosom, uncloak, uncover, unmask
Antonyms: cloak, conceal, cover (up), enshroud, hide, mask, shroud, veil
6. Unfetter: (verb) : मुक्त कर देना
Meaning: release from restraint or inhibition.
Synonyms: discharge, emancipate, enfranchise, enlarge, free, liberate, loose, loosen, manumit, release, spring, unbind, uncage, unchain
Antonyms: bind, confine, enchain, fetter
7. Proliferation: (noun) : तीव्र वृद्धि
Meaning: rapid increase in the number or amount of something.
Synonyms: accretion, accrual, addendum, addition, augmentation, boost, expansion, gain, increase, increment, more, plus, raise, rise, step-up, supplement, uptick
Antonyms: abatement, decline, decrease, decrement, depletion, diminishment, diminution, drop-off, fall, falloff, lessening, loss, lowering, reduction, shrinkage, step-do
8. Obligation: (noun) : कर्तव्य
Meaning: an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.
Synonyms: burden, charge, commitment, duty, imperative, incumbency, need, office, responsibility
Antonyms: grace, postponement, stay, discharge, ease, exemption, release, relief, waiver, loophole
9. Curb: (verb) : नियंत्रण, अधीन करना
Meaning: restrain or keep in check.
Synonyms: bridle, check, constrain, contain, control, govern, hold, inhibit, keep, measure, pull in, regulate, rein, restrain, rule, tame
Antonyms: liberate, loose, loosen, unleash
air, express, take out, vent
10. Stringent: (adjective) : अभावग्रस्त
Meaning: (of regulations, requirements, or conditions) strict, precise, and exacting.
Synonyms: brassbound, exacting, inflexible, rigid, rigorous, strict, uncompromising
Antonyms: flexible, lax, loose, relaxed,
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