Donald Trump's Decision between the Transfer of the US Embassy to

Jerusalem and Modify the Nuclear Deal with Iran

Ahmed ALMadani

and Muhamad Muttaqien

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Airlangga,Surabaya, Indonesia

Keywords: Jerusalem, The Palestinian Issue, Iran, Hamas,

Abstract: US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel is in

the interest of the Israeli state and against the Middle East peace process. The decision was made at the end

of 2017, but at the same time, Iran's nuclear deal, signed in 2015, was between Iran and the international

community does not go as required. So the researcher argues about Trump goals of this action locally,

regionally and internationally, plus the United States is trying to link the Iranian nuclear issue to the

Palestinian issue. US President Donald Trump has made clear that Tehran is not committed to the nuclear

deal and that amendments should be made to the agreement. The most important of these changes is Iran's

regional behavior, particularly with respect to its support for Islamic movements opposed to Israel, most

notably the Palestinian Hamas movement. Iran has always stated that it supports the Palestinian people in

the face of the Israeli occupation. This is why it established the so- called Quds Force for the Liberation of

Palestine, but the Quds Force did not act in the face of the Trump decision on the city of Jerusalem in 2017.

The United States is trying to isolate Iran from its regional activities, by modifying the Iranian nuclear

agreement to include the cessation of Iran's activity in the Middle East. The methodology is to link Trump's

decision with his position on Iran's nuclear deal according to the Theory of International conflict, the

researcher found that Iran is exploiting the Palestinian cause for Iranian interests only through Iranian

slogans and statements. This question: Is the United States trying to reach a new international agreement

with Iran by putting all the files on the table, in other words linking the Iranian nuclear file and Iran's

control of four Arab capitals and the Trump decision on Jerusalem? Or is the military option against Iran the

solution to this international crisis?

1 INTRODUCTION

The US president announced his decision that the

United States of America recognize the city of

Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel in

addition to the transfer of the US Embassy to

Jerusalem, as these US decisions have dimensions at

the US level and also have reasons at the regional

level in the Middle East, in addition to international

dimensions.

Initially, it must be known that this decision to

recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was

signed by the US Congress in 1995 (Congressional

Record, 1995), after which in 1999 the decision was

submitted to the White House for approval, but

former US presidents were postponing the

resolution, so every Six months the US

administration was reviewing it, until Donald Trump

came in December 2017 and announced the

decision. The decision to recognize Jerusalem as the

capital of Israel and the transfer of the US embassy

to it was part of Trump's electoral agenda, which he

won. Thus, President Trump's agenda extends to

winning a second term in the United States, which

will help him in his future campaign against the

Democratic Party, with the Israeli lobby next to

Trump (Waxman, 2017). This is the American

dimension to Trump's decision to recognize

Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transfer the

embassy to it.

As for the regional dimension in the Middle East,

which concerns Iran's behavior in addition to the

Iranian nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015, the

White House is working to review this agreement

every three months to see the extent of Iran's

commitment to this agreement. Until October 2017,

when President Trump declared Iran's non-

compliance with the nuclear agreement, we can see

the link between the decision to recognize Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the

ALMadani, A. and Muttaqien, M.

Donald Trump’s Decision between the Transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and Modify the Nuclear Deal with Iran.

DOI: 10.5220/0010276200002309

In Proceedings of Airlangga Conference on International Relations (ACIR 2018) - Politics, Economy, and Security in Changing Indo-Paciﬁc Region, pages 297-301

ISBN: 978-989-758-493-0

297

embassy to Trump's declaration that Iran does not

comply with the nuclear agreement within a very

short period of time. This linkage between Iran and

the Palestinian cause has ramifications on the

regional level in the Middle East.

When talking about the relationship between the

subject of Jerusalem and Iran, it must be known that

Iran has an army called the Quds Force. The purpose

of establishing this army is to liberate Jerusalem

from the Israeli occupation. But the question is

where this army is? This army is in Iraq, Syria,

Lebanon and Yemen. Iran controls four Arab

capitals (Uskowi, 2018), while Israel controls one

Arab capital, Jerusalem. Here comes the link

between the issue of Iranian control over four Arab

capitals and the Israeli control over the city of

Jerusalem.

As for the international dimension, the United

States wants the American Middle East by imposing

American solutions on the region, especially since

the international system is based on the unipolar

principle of the United States of America, especially

on the level of military control (Center for Research

and Strategic Studies, 2017).

This paper argues about the implications of the

American decision on the Palestinian issue by

linking the Palestinian file to the Iranian nuclear file,

especially with the existence of the Palestinian

division inside Palestine, in addition to the Iranian

intervention, whether political or military in

Arab countries, how to invest the century deal in

favor of the Palestinian cause.

2 THE AMERICAN CENTURY

DEAL LOCALLY IMPACT:

TRUMP GOAL OF WINNING A

SECOND TERM OF THE

PRESIDENCY ELECTION IN

USA

Trump's move has been expected since his election

victory at the end of 2016. His election program

included a promise to move the US embassy from

Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if elected president of the

United States. A combination of complex factors

played an important role in Trump's decision.

Internally, investigations into Russian intervention

in the US elections are approaching the Trump crew.

His son-in-law, Jared Kouchner, who is close to

Israel, can also be dragged on, which means that

Trump is in an increasingly fragile internal situation,

and may want to distance him from suspicions or at

least postpone discussion.

Under these circumstances, Trump is likely to

seek support from influential Jewish lobbies in

Washington. Another equally important factor is

Trump's attempt to satisfy the Republican Party's

support for the transfer of the Embassy, especially

the Conservatives, and the Evangelicals. In addition

to the figures who supported him in his election

campaign to reach the White House, some of them

paid $ 25 million on condition that the United States

recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (Al

Jazeera Center for Studies, 2017).

US President Donald Trump has announced that

he is planning to run for the US presidential

elections in 2020, where he began planning very

early, after he admitted to «Jerusalem the capital of

Israel» with the clear goal of winning the Jewish

lobby in the United States. Trump knows very well

that anti-Israel is not in his favor or in favor of

American foreign policy. Any step he takes must not

harm America's interests, first and foremost the

protection of Israel. Perhaps the most appropriate

analysis is that this position came to hit two birds

with one stone. Iran has pushed for more sanctions

against Iran and its violations in Yemen and

Lebanon. Trump's decision to scatter the files in the

region and make the Iranian interference file linked

to the Palestinian issue. At the same time, the Jewish

Lobby is working to support the American president

in his belief that it will serve the interests of Iran

(Rashed, 2017).

3 THE AMERICAN CENTURY

DEAL REGIONALLY IMPACT

ON THE MIDDLE EAST: FOUR

ARAB CAPITALS UNDER

IRANIAN CONTROL IN

EXCHANGE FOR AN ARAB

CAPITAL UNDER ISRAELI

CONTROL

One of the most important reasons for the

deterioration of the situation in the Middle East,

especially when talking about American or Iranian

intervention is the conflict between the Arab

countries, the absence of a unified political program

that brings together the Arab countries on one basis,

particularly the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites

in Arab countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen and

Lebanon (Khalid, 2017).

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Iran and America have exploited their agenda in

the Middle East through Iran's military intervention

in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. In addition to

the US decision to expropriate Jerusalem as the

capital of Israel, the Arab-Arab conflict has been a

major cause of the weakness of the Arab power

towards external dangers whether it is From the

Iranian or American side.

US President Donald Trump's century deal is an

Israeli plan and an American application on the

ground by giving the Palestinians the Gaza Strip and

part of the West Bank, no agreed borders, no

agreement on the Palestinian refugees issue, no talk

of Jerusalem in the negotiations, In other words, the

liquidation of the Palestinian cause (Short, 2018).

Iran's role in exploiting the weakness of the Arab

countries to pass the Iranian project through Iran's

relationship with the Palestinian Hamas movement,

in other words support the Palestinian resistance, as

Iran exploits its relationship with the Palestinian

resistance and interferes in Arab affairs, In addition

to the Iranian exploitation in supporting the

Palestinian resistance movements as a card that can

be negotiated in the details of the Iranian nuclear

file.

The official Arab position and the people agreed

to reject the deal of the century presented by the US

administration (Khalid, 2017), but for the Iranian

party, the Arab position is divided between a

supporter of the Iranian project and a rejection of the

Iranian project in the Middle East, and here lies the

Arab weakness (Al Jazeera Center for Studies,

2017).

The Israeli and Iranian behavior are two faces of

one coin, especially since the principle of

establishing these two states is purely religious. Iran

adopts the Shiite ideology of its political system.

Israel advocates the Jewishness of the Israeli state.

In other words, both countries are outside the

principle of a modern and pluralistic state Politics

and democracy, a common point between the two

countries (Adnan, 2015).

the deal of the century is to link the Palestinian

issue with the Iranian nuclear agreement, by

combining these two files and trying to find an

international solution to them, so that the solution is

the end of Iran's control of four Arab capitals by the

return of Iranian forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and

Yemen to the Iranian border, In contrast, moving

the US embassy to Jerusalem is an end to the idea of

two states (Palestine and Israel), where a

confederation can be established under the name of

one state and Jerusalem as a capital under

international supervision (Norman, 2018).

Arab and Islamic countries have agreed to reject

the deal of the century, where the deal of the century

was considered a significant concession to the

Palestinian rights to establish a Palestinian state with

East Jerusalem as its capital based on UN Security

Council resolutions and the UN General Assembly

(Al Jazeera Center for Studies, 2017).

In addition, American recognition of the city of

Jerusalem was rejected as the united capital of Israel.

Most of the members of the international community

rejected this decision and declared explicitly that the

embassies would not be transferred to Jerusalem

because Jerusalem is a file of negotiations between

Israelis and Palestinians (Center for Strategic

Thought Studies, 2017).

In 2003, as US forces entered Iraq, Iran offered a

paper to the USA containing possible terms for

agreement between both countries. Iran prepared a

comprehensive proposal to start negotiation with the

United States dealing with all points of disagreement

between them. The first one to think about this was

Sadeg Kharazi, Iran's ambassador to France. He

feared of Iran to be the next state on the US list of

military intervention following Iraq and

Afghanistan. The project was directed to the

Supreme Leader of Iran for approval and then was

reviewed by Iran's ambassador to the United Nations

at the time, Javad Zarif. The amendments were

finalized before sent to the USA. The decision

makers in Tehran participating in the preparation

consisted of Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal

Kharrazi, President Mohammad Khatami, UN

Ambassador Zarif, Sadeg Kharazi and Ayatollah Ali

Khamenei. In addition, Iranians also consulted Tim

Guldeman, Swiss ambassador to Iran (Parsi, 2007).

Iran built their proposal on the principle of mutual

respect to the United States. It offered to end their

support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad and pressed

them to stop the attacks on Israel. In addition, it also

offered to stop Hezbollah's military support and to

turn it into a purely political party. With regard to

the nuclear issue, the proposal offered to open Iran’s

nuclear program completely to be inspected

internationally.

The Iranians would sign Additional Protocol to

the Non-Proliferation Treaty and offered extensive

US involvement in the program as an additional

guarantee and gesture of goodwill. With regard to

terrorism, Tehran had provided full cooperation

against all terrorist organizations, including Al-

Qaeda in Afghanistan. Regarding Iraq, Iran would

work actively with the United States to support

political stability, democratic institutions and, most

importantly, a nonreligious government.

Donald Trump’s Decision between the Transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and Modify the Nuclear Deal with Iran

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The Iranians offered to accept Beirut Declaration

on Saudi Peace Initiative of 2002 Arab League

Summit, in which Arab states offered to establish

collective peace with Israel and to recognize and

normalize relations with the Jews in return for

Israel's agreement to withdraw from all the occupied

territories and accept a completely independent

Palestinian state, the division of Jerusalem on an

equal footing, and a just solution to the problem of

Palestinian refugees. Through this move, Iran would

formally recognize the two-state solution and

consider itself at peace with Israel.

The Iran’s offer was delivered to the then- US-

administration of George W. Bush that was split into

two parties: the one supporting the start of serious

negotiations with Iran, including former US

Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the other

opposing to the offer, including former Vice

President Dick Cheney. Former Secretary of

Defense Donald Rumsfeld had by now rejected

President Bush’s offer as Iran was one of the

tools serving the axis of evil and that the religious

political system in Iran must be eliminated (Parsi

2007).

4 THE AMERICAN CENTURY

DEAL INTERNATIONALLY

IMPACT: AMERICANIZATION

MIDDLE EAST

The Americanization Middle East means that the

largest number of Middle east states must be

dependent on USA, and in another novel it means

that most of the states if not all should be created by

the United States way. Therefore, the American

project for the Middle East aims to reshape the

region and establish American areas of influence by

working on several axes, including (Saif 2006):

First, Iran's ambitions are curtailed by carrot and

stick policy. The threat of US military force is

frequently used, while other incentives are offered to

Iran in order to stop Iranian support for Islamic

resistance movements such as Hamas and

Hezbollah.

Second, to give Israel the opportunity to

eliminate the causes of tension in the region, which

the United States believes lies in the Palestinian

cause, and therefore releases Israel's hand to

eliminate any Palestinian forces carrying the banner

of resistance such as Hamas and Islamic Jiad.

Thirdly: the focus of direct American hegemony

on oil to impose indirect American influence on the

global economy by controlling oil supplies to China,

Japan and Europe.

The link between the two issues (the Iranian

nuclear and the Palestinian issue) at the regional

level is the beginning of an agreement at the

international level through direct US intervention,

both at the political level or military in imposing

solutions on the parties to the conflict and then

restructuring the Middle East according to the

American concept, Especially with the absence of a

strong Middle Eastern state capable of controlling it

(not a major Iran, not a major Israel, not a major

Turkey, nor a major Islamic caliphate). The

unilateral regime that governs the international

community - the United States - wants to find a way

to resolve political and military differences. , And

turning the Middle East into a second American spot

after the European Union, which is the first spot of

the American way (Channel 9, 2017).

5 CONCLUSION

US President Donald Trump wants to hit two birds

with one stone: the solution of the Iranian nuclear

file and the Palestinian issue. The nature of Trump's

background is business, his handling of these files is

not based on political concepts or international

relations, On the Middle East, but the reality is that

he is the president of the United States of America

and must be dealt with on this basis.

The Arab and Islamic parties, whether on the

official or popular level, have rejected the deal of the

century because of the irrational concessions that the

Palestinian people have. But at the same time, the

century's deal must be invested in the interest of the

Palestinian cause. Is an international solution, not

regional or local.

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