Article Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/6/cuba-and-iran-fms-meet-to-mark-alliance-against-us-sanctions
Cuba and Iran’s foreign affairs ministers, Bruno Rodriguez and Javad Zarif, recently met in Havana, Cuba’s capital. The gathering marked the ‘mutual solidarity between both nations’. Zarif’s trip was aimed at reinforcing the mutual support between the countries while withstanding U.S. sanctions. Granma, Cuba’s official newspaper, described the toughening of the Trump administration’s sanctions as a punishment for countries that don’t ‘‘bend to its [the U.S.’s] will’’.
In 2018, the Trump administration pulled out of the historical 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers. The administration reimposed sanctions to damage Tehran’s capability to export Iranian oil (exports have plummeted). And the U.S. government has set forth more than 130 new sanctions to strengthen the1962 Cuban embargo.
The alliance between Iran and Cuba is an example of the disadvantages of the dominance (realism) principle. The U.S. utilized economic force to leverage cooperation, however, this resulted in strengthening hostility. Cuba and Iran have joined together, and are in a position to stand up to the U.S.. Zarif visited Venezuela two days before his meeting in Cuba. Venezuela is another political ally subject to U.S. sanctions.
Cuba has declared its support of peaceful use of nuclear technology and its ability to improve socio-economic development, while criticizing the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Nuclear Agreement with Iran. Granma asserted that the decision could result in ‘serious consequences for stability and security in the Middle East’.
The withdrawal of the US from the agreement has resulted in Iran ignoring provisions (this began in 2019). It also opens the possibility of other countries leaving the agreement. The U.S. is the dominating world power within International relations (the global stage is currently a unipolar system), without the weight of the US interest in the deal, other countries may be inclined to leave the agreement.