Trump ingratiating with Israel lobby to save presidency from Deep State: Scholar

US President Donald Trump is opposing the Iran nuclear deal to ingratiate himself with the powerful Israel lobby, hoping it could save his presidency from the Deep State, according to E. Michael Jones, an American political analyst in Indiana.

Jones, a writer, former professor, media commentator and the current editor of the Culture Wars magazine, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the White House is actively working with congressional leaders to find a legislative "fix" to the Iran nuclear agreement so that the United States would remain in the multi-nation accord.

“The president said he is either going to fix it or cancel it,” Tillerson said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “We are in the process of trying to deliver on the promise he made to fix it.”

On Monday, Tillerson said that he sees progress in getting European support for fixing the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, including the United States.

After meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, National Security Adviser Mark Sedwill and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Tillerson said they had agreed to establish a working group of experts on fixing flaws in the landmark 2015 agreement in time to meet a White House deadline.

"I think there's a common view among the E3 [Britain, France and Germany] that there are some areas of the (nuclear deal) or some areas of Iran's behavior that should be addressed," Tillerson told reporters in London after talks with Johnson.

‘Trump wants to change nuclear deal, not 'fix' it’

“I emphasize the word ‘fix’ here. What exactly does he mean by the word ‘fix’ here?” Jones asked. “These people who negotiated this deal spent years hammering out the exact language that’s acceptable to all the parties concerned. What he means is change. He wants to change the agreement. When you change an agreement you’re going back and undoing something that took years to do.”

“The question here is from Iran’s point of view.  Suppose Iran goes along with the idea that they should change the agreement, and now change it to talk about ballistic missiles when ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons are two separate things,” he stated.

“The question is what guarantees does Iran have that they won’t change that agreement and what guarantees does Iran have that once they say something – let’s say ballistic missiles, and then let’s go to peaceful use of nuclear weapons, and let’s go from there… What is to prevent a never-ending series of changes here?” the analyst said.  

 “The point here is when you have an agreement that’s supposed to be the end of the story. We have the agreement. That’s the end. We move on,” he added.  

‘If it ain't broke, don't fix it’

“Trump here is to trying to curry favors with the Israel lobby. That’s what’s he is trying to do here. There is nothing broken about the agreement. There is nothing that needs to be fixed about the agreement,” analyst noted.  

“He is trying to curry favors with the Israel lobby because the Israel lobby is the only group in the United States powerful enough to save him from the Deep State’s attempt to overthrow his presidency,” the commentator observed.

“So that’s the real story here. There’s nothing broken. There’s an old saying in America: ‘If it ain't broke, don't fix it.’ Well, ‘it ain't broke’, so there is no point in trying to fix it.  Let’s move on. Let’s leave this thing alone,” Jones said in his concluding remarks.

Earlier this month, Trump signed his third sanctions waiver for Iran as part of Washington's commitments under the international nuclear deal with Iran.

The multilateral agreement, signed by the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, removes all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in exchange for certain limitations on its peaceful nuclear program.

Trump, who has called the agreement "embarrassing" for Washington, warned EU signatories that he was giving them "a last chance" to join the US in "fixing significant flaws in the deal."

"No one should doubt my word,” Trump said, warning the European leaders that he would take the US out of the deal if they fail to meet his expectations by May, when the waiver expires.

The remarks drew criticism from German, French and British officials, who have asked Trump to refrain from any action that would harm the landmark deal.

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