Valdai Club

Donald Trump provides more opportunities for a change in the relationship with Russia than Hillary Clinton, although the situation is nearly the opposite for Iran, Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director at the Center for Political-Military Analysis of the Hudson Institute, told valdaiclub.com.

At the same time, Senator Ted Cruz, another contender in the US Republican Primary, who may still have a shot at the presidency, has said he would be against both the Iran nuclear deal and improving relations with Russia.

“I think that if Donald Trump were president, he is much more open for work with Russia on variety of issues, but he has not shown that strong enthusiasm for Iran deal. I don’t know if he would repudiate it, but other leading candidate, Senator Cruz, said he would repudiate it and also said he wouldn’t want to work with Russia, so that would be the most challenging relationship,” Weitz said.

He noted that while Hillary Clinton, unlike Donald Trump, would most likely not try to change the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, her feelings toward Russia are much less clear.

“Secretary Clinton would carry out Iran deal, I know she said she’d do things a little differently, I think in essence she’s going to continue it, and then relationship with Russia is a bit of a mystery. I think her policy is presumably going be similar to the Obama administration, but the Obama administration policy shifted as you know, he came into office, tried to reach out, and now he is pretty much just ignoring Russia. And I imagine she’ll fall in that line, but I don’t know precisely,” Weitz added.

Weitz noted that for any deal on Iran’s nuclear program to succeed, even if a future US president repudiates the current deal, Russia would be a key negotiator.

“It’s clear any solution involving Iran has to involve Russia, but whether it will be through this deal or some other mechanism, I just don’t know,” Weitz said.

Weitz concluded, saying that the Iran nuclear deal is key because it prevents other countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia or Turkey from seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, and that no other country in the region has been such a potential driver for nuclear weapons proliferation.