BACKGROUND
US conservatives have lined up to condemn the deal reached between major world powers and Iran. The agreement limits Iranian nuclear activity in return for the lifting of crippling international economic sanctions. The US Congress has 60 days in which to consider the deal, though President Barack Obama has said he will veto any attempt to block it. Israel's government has strongly criticised the agreement. Negotiations between Iran and six world powers - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany - began in 2006. The so-called P5+1 want Iran to scale back its sensitive nuclear activities to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran, which wants international sanctions lifted, has always insisted that its nuclear work is peaceful. Full story >>
THE CARTOON
The cartoon by Adams from The Daily Telegraph uses a graphic representation of an English idiom to comment on the deal. If someone runs rings (a)round you, they are very much better, faster, or more successful at something than you are: Our girls' hockey team have run rings round all their opponents this year. The cartoon shows Iran's President Hassan Rouhani literally running rings around President Obama, but the rings form the nuclear symbol. The message seems to be that Rouhani has got the better of Obama and the best of the deal, which would explain why he seems so happy and Obama looks rather bewildered.
LANGUAGE NOTE
According to The Phrase Finder, 'Running rings around' originated as an English hunting term. It was used by fox-hunters but more often by those indulging in hare-coursing, which is now banned in the UK. The circling runs made by the hare in its attempts to outrun the chasing greyhounds were called rings. The first person to refer in print to rings with that meaning was the Member of Parliament for Ipswich, William Churchill, in 1717.
