Trump's axis of evil

So far Trump's axis of evil consists of just two countries, North Korea and Iran. Unlike George W Bush, he hasn't actually labelled these two countries with any sort of headline name, but everyone knows they are highest on Trump's hate list. He will no doubt be delighted that Iran is currently having its own internal problems, with thousands of protestors out in the streets demanding an end to clerical rule. Iran's economy is not in good shape and they blame the men with long beards. The men in long beards' regime, however, blames the West, and the US in particular, for the state of the economy. To a certain extent this is right because the years of tough sanctions have had a big impact. But mismanagement, corruption and, of course, the drop in the price of oil have all played their part in makning Iran a poorer place. The young people of Iran - and there is a disproportionate number of them compared with the middle-aged and elderly - are fed up with the way things are going in their country and want a better lifestyle. They blame the austere clerics for their miserable lives. But, strangely, most of them support Iran's nuclear programme, even though this is at the heart of the longstanding confrontation between the Tehran regime and the international community. The 2015 nuclear deal under the Obama administration should by now be bringing significant benefits to the Iranian economy but it hasn't happened yet. Trump hates the nuclear deal and can't bear the thought of allowing Tehran to get billions of dollars back into the government's coffers which can then be spent on expanding the mischief-making of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard across the Middle East and elsewhere. The street protests are a reminder to the Tehran regime that there is an anger in the country which it either has to recognise or suppress. Based on past action, the regime is more likely to turn to suppression to stop the protests. That will lead to even more opposition in Washington to the nuclear deal. There is an interesting Catch 22 situation here for the Mullahs. Trump must now be looking ahead to his main hit/hate list for 2018 while he's playing golf in Florida, and just below North Korea will be Iran. There are dangers here, not as great as the North Korea nuclear scenario, but there is the potential for a mighty Washington/Tehran bust-up in the next 12 months.