Trump's Iran policy to fail without allies: US media

'“Then there were none” was Agatha Christie’s most memorable mystery about a house party in which each guest was killed off one by one,' wrote James Clapper and Thomas Pickering in National Interest.

'Donald Trump’s policy toward Iran has resulted in much the same: a vanishing one by one of American partners who were previously supportive of US leadership in curbing Iran, particularly its nuclear program.'

'Dozens of states, painstakingly cultivated over decades of American leadership in blocking Iran’s nuclear capability, are now simply gone. One of America’s three remaining allies on these issues, Saudi Arabia, has become a central player in American strategy throughout the Middle East region. But the Saudis, because of the Jamal Khashoggi killing and other reasons, may have cut itself out of the action. The United Arab Emirates, so close to the Saudis, may also fall away.'

Writing that Trump's 'America First” should not mean 'America alone', National Interest added, 'The United States risks losing the cooperation of historic and proven allies in the pursuit of other US national security interests around the world, far beyond Iran.

Regarding the roots of the US international isolation, the website added, 'The Trump administration’s withdrawal last spring from the Iran nuclear agreement caused the death of support for US policy. That agreement had been negotiated with Iran by six major world powers and the European Union. It was fully endorsed by the UN Security Council and received overwhelming support from the UN’s member states.'

European allies 'strongly oppose US reinstitution of secondary sanctions' against Iran; 'they see the Trump administration’s new sanctions as a violation of the nuclear agreement and UN Security Council resolutions.'

'The new sanctions and those applied on November 5 only sap European interest in cooperating to stop Iran.'

National Interest wrote that for the first time, US European allies are actively working to circumvent the US Treasury, sanctions and dollar.

'Moreover, Russia, China and others in Asia delight in seeing further division of the Western Alliance and the loss of American leadership.'

'There is no question that the administration’s go-it-alone strategy has damaged Iran’s economy and increased internal discord. But this outsized pressure has emboldened Iran’s hardliners, other states in the region and Iran’s population, a dynamic that is not advantageous to us.'

National Interest added that the now severely damaged partnership with the Saudi crown prince, on which the Trump administration has relied to carry out an already flawed strategy, underscores the need to return to a genuine multilateral alliance.

The United States can succeed in reaching its objectives with Tehran only through the deliberate cultivation of broad partnerships based on leveraged and patient diplomacy. And many partners are better than none.

Lt. Gen. James Clapper (USAF, ret.) is the former director of US National Intelligence; and Thomas R. Pickering is a former US ambassador to the United Nations, Russia and India.

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