As we approach Trump’s inauguration, one foreign policy issue with the potential to cause an early schism in the new administration is the Iran nuclear deal. Adopting a different tone to President-elect Trump’s campaign promises, James Mattis said last Thursday in his confirmation hearing to be defence secretary that he will support the enforcement of the nuclear deal despite misgivings. This week’s Fathom Highlight is Emily B. Landau, senior research fellow at INSS, writing on what Trump should do with the Iran deal. She rejects two simplicities: that the nuclear deal is adequate and should be maintained, and that it is disastrous and should be abrogated. Instead, Landau advises the incoming Trump administration to maintain the agreement but to take a series of steps to improve it.

Our voice of the week is General James Mattis’s senate confirmation hearing to be defence secretary, during which he said of the Iran deal, ‘When America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.’ 12 January 2017.

Our image of the week is President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, 10 January 2017.

What Trump should do with the Iran deal

by Emily B. Landau | January 17, 2016