Consequences for the Middle East

Trump orders withdrawal from UN Human Rights Council

Trump holds up the corresponding decree for the cameras.(Bild: AP/Evan Vucci)

US President Donald Trump has ordered the USA to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council. He signed a decree on Tuesday ending cooperation. The move will be particularly noticeable in the Middle East.

The USA had already withdrawn from the Council in 2018 during Trump's first term in office, but his successor Joe Biden reversed the move in 2021. In addition, Trump sealed the end of US funding for the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at a ceremony in the White House.

The Human Rights Council had "shown a constant bias against Israel" and allowed "countries like Iran, China and Cuba" to use it to "protect themselves, even though they have committed egregious human rights violations and abuses", according to the document signed by the US President.

Repeated criticism of UN agency
Israel's government accuses UNRWA employees of being involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and has cut all ties with the organization. The USA supported its ally's move.

Trump also confirmed that he wants to comprehensively reform and downsize the US Agency for International Development (USAID). His administration is considering integrating USAID into the State Department as part of a major reorganization. The aim is to reduce the workforce and align spending with Trump's "America First" policy.

Iran also in his sights
Trump also signed a decree in which he resumed his "very tough" policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran. This tightens the economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. According to an official, the aim of the directive is to bring Iran's oil exports and therefore the government's main source of income to a standstill.

In addition, action is to be taken against those who violate existing sanctions. Trump is thus continuing the policy of maximum pressure that he practised during his first term in office. Trump had accused his predecessor Joe Biden of not taking decisive enough action against Iran, which is suspected of wanting to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program.

During his first term in office in 2018, Trump unilaterally terminated a nuclear agreement concluded between Iran and several Western countries in 2015 and reinstated economic sanctions. As a result, Iran no longer felt obliged to comply with the agreement. Until then, the government had been open to restrictions and inspections of nuclear facilities.