Hossein Mousavian, a Princeton University researcher, has said that the Middle East, and the world at large, are entering a new dangerous era after the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Mousavian made the comment as he spoke to the Windham World Affairs Council last month at Centre Congregational Church, according to The Commons online magazine.

He said that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name for the nuclear agreement, was “one of the most significant nuclear nonproliferation agreements” of the post-Cold War era.

However, he added, the U.S. pullout from the deal will have effects that go far beyond Iran.

The nuclear deal was significant because it marked the first time that a crisis in the Middle East had been resolved peacefully through diplomacy, he remarked.

Mousavian, who acted as the spokesman for Iran’s nuclear team with the European Union trio of Germany, Britain and France from 2003-2005, said the JCPOA was also one of the rare moments that the world’s major powers worked together for a common goal.

He said the JCPOA had raised hopes that Iran and the West could cooperate to resolve regional conflicts, something that he believes is key to future peace in the Middle East.

The Trump administration’s decision to economically and politically isolate Iran “will make the region less safe,” Mousavian said, warning the move is more likely to pull the U.S. deeper into the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

“You are not going to get peace until the U.S. and Iran cooperate,” he pointed out.

And, given its status as a major power in the Middle East, Iran will not accept being marginalized by the United States, he added.

On May 8, President Donald Trump officially withdrew the U.S. from the UN-endorsed nuclear agreement and plans to reimpose sanctions on Iran.

Iran has warned the remaining parties to the nuclear agreement – the European Union, E3 (Germany, France and Britain), Russia and China – that if its interests are not guaranteed it will not remain in the deal.

On May 23, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a set of demands from Europe to save the nuclear deal. He warned that Iran would restart its nuclear activities if they failed to act swiftly.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the JCPOA could only continue if the Europeans fulfill these conditions including: Promising not to ask Iran about its ballistic missile program or its regional activities; guaranteeing that Iran’s oil will continue to be sold; and having European banks guarantee financial transactions with Iran.