Iranian student fears for the future as Trump pulls out of nuclear deal
Tough rhetoric from Trump could bolster Iranian hardliners and cause regional instability, student says
Donald Trump's plans to pull the U.S. out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran has brought fears of an even deeper crisis in a country already gripped by economic struggles, mass protests and widespread dissatisfaction.
Trump made the announcement Tuesday, dealing a profound blow to U.S. allies and potentially deepening the president's isolation on the world stage.
To get a sense of the reaction inside Iran, As It Happens guest host Helen Mann spoke with a university student in Tehran. CBC has agreed to withhold his name for his safety.
Here is part of what he had to say.
President Trump has followed through on the threats he's been making to pull out of this deal. It must be something that's been anticipated in Tehran. What kinds of things have you been hearing leading up to this moment?
Most people I talked with would say this was not something we were expecting.
This is something that's been happening in Iran-U.S. relations from the time of axis of evil to Obama times ... and after that, like, the Muslim ban.
People are not taking this specific case too seriously.
But, of course, people are also worried about what's going to happen next.
President Trump said today that he is preparing to reinstall sanctions. Does that concern you given, you know, the economy in Iran is already struggling for a number of reasons?
Of course it does. It does affect every different aspect of economy in Iran.
I can give you an example of how one of my friends ... told us that he lost one project working for marketing of an American brand somewhere, and the company he's working with asked them to stop working on that project yesterday even before Trump announced it.
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So what do you think the impact of this might be on [Iranian] President [Hassan] Rouhani and any other reformers? Are they under more pressure from the people? Does it sort of bolster hardliners?
It definitely bolsters the conservative side's power, especially considering what's happening in Iran for the last few months. It's going to get somehow hijacked by conservatives.
Trying to distribute this idea of security and a threat of war and Iran becoming another Syria, and by trying to convince the public how we are living in a security state, and we need to all stand together — of course it's going to solidify conservatives' power.
Trump is also in a very difficult situation at the moment, and he needs some enemy outside to rebuild that trust and unify the country with all this rhetoric of security and terrorism.
How do you think this decision ... is going to affect how you and people in your generation view the United States?
I mean, people really are having some very much pessimistic ideas about the establishment in the U.S.
The problem is I don't think at the moment ... the U.S. establishment is worried about how people in Iran are feeling.
And it's very [hypocritical], I think, how Trump ends his talk with, like, trying to have this fake sense of solidarity with Iranian people and saying something about how his heart is with the Iranian people.
President Trump accuses Iran of being a state sponsor of terrorism, says it's meddling in the region. Are you worried about the potential for full-blown conflict if your country's government does start increasing its nuclear program?
I'm not sure how serious we should take Iran's stance on the threat of starting to enrich [its nuclear program] at the moment.
I think Rouhani was clear on how it all depends on whether the European countries want to stay in the deal or not.
But I definitely believe any sort of destabilization between the relationship of Iran and U.S are going to have regional impacts, for sure.
At the same time, I think Trump's strategy, Trump's plan, is based on some sort of dispersing a sense of ... fear.
Sending these threats and making this stage of war — I think that's Trump's plan.
Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Associated Press. Interview produced by Donya Ziaee.