By Mohammad Ghaderi

Hard days for Britain's Johnson 

November 21, 2017 - 9:59

TEHRAN _ Boris Johnson's name is familiar to many people who follow the UK political developments! Johnson is one of the most prominent members of the British Conservative Party. However, he is facing hard times in his country. He is now accused of ineffectiveness in the UK's political and executive atmosphere by the media and many of the British politicians. This is while Johnson was named as one of the main alternatives for the position of the UK's Prime Minister. 

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, known as Boris Johnson, is a 51-year-old politician who sees himself in a proper position to be the prime minister of his country.

ِDuring the years between 2008 and 2016, when he was the mayor of London, he became popular with the conservative party supporters. He could even gain popularity among people with no particular political orientation. He is also known for adopting liberal approaches among conservatives. Boris Johnson is considered a different politician in the conservative party. He is especially different from members like David Cameron and Theresa May.

Johnson was one of the main supporters of his country's exit from the European Union during the Brexit referendum. Adopting this stance towards the departure of Britain from Europe has led to the anger of many of his party members, including Prime Minister David Cameron. After David Cameron's resigned his post, many British analysts thought that Johnson would be introduced as the new prime minister. But eventually, we witnessed the presence of Theresa May was at the top of political and administrative equations in London.

During the UK general election in 2017, which led to a relative defeat of conservatives, some of Johnson party members asked him to prepare himself to be the next British prime minister. It has reached a point that some English media referred to Johnson as the successor to Theresa May. However, the foreign secretary eventually preferred to stay in his position.

At the moment, Johnson doesn't have much luck to be present at the top of political and executive equations of London. In other words, many people who believed that he would be a good successor to Theresa May, have now discarded this idea. In such a situation, Johnson should throw out the thought of being the next UK's Prime Minister! Many media in Britain now agree that Johnson is a man of great mistakes in the political arena.

The fact is that Johnson has not been able to appear as a different politician since his presence in the British Foreign Office. This has reduced hopes for his effective role in other political and executive positions. Interestingly, Boris Johnson was born in the United States of America (in New York) and has two American and English nationalities. Yet Johnson has renounced his American nationality in 2016.

Boris Johnson, in the aftermath of Donald Trump's presence at the White House, just like other foreign ministers in his country, has adapted himself to the policies of the U.S. government. Most of Johnson's remarks were endorsed by Donald Tramp's remarks. Even on issues such as the JCPOA, this approach is quite evident. For example, Boris Johnson, in his latest remarks, has emphasized the need to maintain a nuclear deal with Iran. This is while the English authorities, following the president of the United States, welcome the change in the content of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Johnson recently stated that the British government will continue to support foreign investment in Iran:

The central core of the deal, which is a bargain on Iran's good behavior in relation to its nuclear program and its economic development, has not changed, and the President of the United States has not canceled or torn off the nuclear deal with Iran. As long as Iran is committed to the JCPOA, we should be witnessing economic interactions and progress. It is important for the Iranian people to be able to touch the interests of the JCPOA, and it is very important that we continue to work on trade and investment between the two countries."

Johnson's approach towards "the JCPOA" and also "Brexit" reflects his absolute agreement with the policies of the current U.S. government. Like Donald Trump and other American politicians, he is thinking about changing the content of the nuclear deal and incorporating issues such as Iran's missile power into the new agreement.

 Not long ago, just before the United Nations General Assembly's New York Summit in September, Western media reported that the British government (Britain's Foreign Office) had agreed to redefine the nuclear deal, based on the U.S. objectives. Obviously, Johnson played a significant role in this process, and he will be an opponent of Trump's Theories towards the JCPOA in the future.

Another point that needs to be taken into consideration is that there is some kind of harmony between the positions taken by Trump and those by Johnson over the issue of Brexit. As noted, the current foreign secretary has been a fan of the withdrawal of his country from the European Union among the conservative party. That's while Donald Trump, the U.S President, announced his support from the Brexit during the 2016 presidential elections.

 After Trump's victory in the presidential election last year, he again stated his support for the British withdrawal from Europe, and even asked other European countries to join this process.Following this position by Trump, many European politicians responded to the US-led anti-European approach. However, Boris Johnson, as the British Foreign Secretary, didn't object Trump in this regard. In other words, the British Foreign Secretary has silently shown that he agrees with Trump's stances on the undermining of the United Europe.

Boris Johnson is now extremely worried about his political future. If he resigns, he will be far removed from his main desire which is to be appointed as the British prime minister. This has deeply affected the mind of Boris Johnson. Meanwhile, some analysts have already announced the expiry date of the current UK foreign secretary.

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