Sputnik - The Israeli-influenced sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may draw President Donald Trump even closer to withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that governs Iran�s nuclear program, analysts told Sputnik.




On Friday, after�a meeting of�the JCPOA commission in�Vienna, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate talks with�US officials, local media reported. On Tuesday, Tillerson was dismissed via�Twitter and replaced by�CIA Director Mike Pompeo�� a move Trump said was over�disagreements on�policy issues, including the JCPOA.

Triumph for�Israel

On March 5, around�a week before�firing Tillerson via�Twitter, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during�a meeting that the United States would pull out�of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if his demands to�make "significant" changes to�the agreement were not met, US media reported, citing officials.

Retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik that Trump�s decision to�drop Tillerson and replace him with�Pompeo, a longtime critic of�the nuclear deal, was a triumph for�Israel�s right wing Likud government and its US political allies.
"A more concerning issue with�the dismissal of�Tillerson, are rumors that he was soft on�Iran, and that his removal had been demanded by�Likudniks in�Israel and congressional supporters of�AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and right-wing Israeli politicians," she said.


Tillerson had also clashed with�Trump on�other major areas of�foreign policy, Kwiatkowski said.

"Movement towards�peace on�the Korean peninsula, resolving Syria, dealing with�Iran, and determining directions with�China and Russia were all areas that� the State Department, and by�extension Tillerson, were and are resisting Trump�s preferences," she added.

Trump wanted to�break stalemates and negotiate his own original deals, Kwiatkowski explained.

Gina Haspel, the veteran intelligence professional whom Trump has named as�his choice to�replace Pompeo as�CIA Director appeared unlikely to�challenge any hardline efforts by�Trump and his team to�scrap the agreement with�Iran, Kwiatkowski suggested.
"Haspel is not widely known except�in regards to�her loyalty to�the CIA, her willingness to�follow orders, and the fact that several neoconservatives and interventionists have already lauded her nomination," she said.


US Looks to�Exit

In January, Trump said he was "waiving" the application of�certain sanctions as�stipulated by�the JCPOA but�only so that the European parties to�the deal could work on�improving it.

Former US Army officer and historian Todd Pierce told Sputnik that the personnel shakeup at�the top of�the administration was likely to�intensify US pressure on�Iran.

Pompeo�s appointment to�succeed Tillerson was "not so much a policy shift but�a solidifying of�an aggressive policy toward�Iran I believe. The entire Trump team is on�board with�tearing up�the Iran agreement now," he said.

Trump had promoted and moved hardliners into�key decision-making positions and he had eliminated more cautious voices like�Tillerson who opposed or sought to�moderate confrontational policies, Pierce explained.

The president had selected "the most militarist officials we have setting policy and terms of�debate, and coloring intelligence interpretation, with�no �moderates� like�Tillerson interfering in�the discussion," he said.

Trump had made his consistent hostility to�the agreement clear during�his 2016 election campaign even when he sounded more moderate tones on�other foreign policy issues, Pierce recalled.
"Trump has already shown with�Jerusalem that [the Israeli government] this may be one deal where he gives them their money�s worth, in�my opinion," he said.


In July 2015, Iran and the P5+1 group of�nations�� the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom plus Germany�� signed the JCPOA. The agreement stipulates a gradual lifting of�sanctions imposed on�Iran in�exchange for�Tehran maintaining the peaceful nature of�its nuclear program.