Link

According to Kelsey Davenport, the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, where she focuses on the nuclear and missile programs in Iran.

She told The Independent that this weekend’s attack will make Iran “much more likely politically to pursue nuclear weapons, and the factions arguing that nuclear weapons are necessary for deterrence are only strengthened now.”

“The U.S. decision to strike Iran before diplomacy was exhausted in the midst of a negotiation process has destroyed U.S. credibility, and is going to raise serious questions about whether the U.S. could be trusted to negotiate again in good faith,” she said.

It’s not the first time Iran has been burned by Trump for seeking a negotiated settlement over its nuclear program, either.

In 2018, Trump in his first term pulled out of a nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, that had successfully and dramatically reduced Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.