TUC president and POA leader STEVE GILLAN speaks to Ben Chacko on the eve of Congress 2026
IN HIS first term as US president, Donald Trump tore up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had been agreed by Barack Obama in 2015, primarily to constrain Iran’s uranium enrichment programme in exchange for some sanctions relief.
For Trump, this was simply a case of Obama being “soft” on Iran, and from 2018 a policy of “maximum pressure” was adopted towards Iran, with any compromise or negotiation off the table.
The Biden administration did not fundamentally change this approach, and to all intents and purposes, foreign policy under Biden was a continuation of that under Trump in relation to Iran.
Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights general secretary GAWAIN LITTLE discusses the impact of the US-Israeli war on the Iranian people and economy
Behind the language of military strategy is a confrontation that risks drawing the wider Middle East into war, says STEVE BISHOP
The ceasefire may have halted the fighting for now, but years of economic warfare and recent military attacks have left millions of Iranians facing hardship and uncertainty, says Codir’s RUBEN BRETT
The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights (Codir) cautiously welcomes the ceasefire, but remains suspicious of US and Israeli intentions


