European diplomats are lookingfor ways to work around the United States withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

The European Union, United Kingdom, France and Germany began negotiations with Iran last week to shield European countries from sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

As a part of its withdrawal, the U.S. has threatened sanctions for any European nations that continue business with Iran. The Trump administration also told organizations to cease operations in the country.

News analyst Charlie Sennott joined BPR to explain how the European Union is trying to mitigate “a disaster for the global economy, for our allies and, I think, for our own economy.”

“All of those years of hard work and diplomacy go up in smoke, and now our European allies are looking at each other and throwing their hands up in the air and saying, ‘Are you kidding me?’” he said. “This is going to back them into a corner.”

Sennott explained that the withdrawal from the Iran deal was motivated by President Trump’s desire ton play to his base of supporters. So too, he said, was the Trump administration's decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

He specifically referenced Christian Zionists, a movement that involves many White Evangelicals, an influential part of Trump’s base.

“Trump appealing to to his base has more to do with his foreign policy than anything else, and that is going to be a source of more chaos than we’ve even already had in this presidency,” said Sennott.

He also criticized the administration for letting domestic popularity dictate the U.S. initiatives abroad.

“When you go with domestic politics to shape your foreign policy, you end up with strategic failures with deep allies that can hurt the global economy,” said Sennott.

Charlie Sennott is a news analyst at WGBH, where he also heads up the GroundTruth Project. To hear his interview in its entirety, click on the audio player above.