- The Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran has failed to produce results.
- President Donald Trump has said that he doesn’t want war with Iran, and seeks only to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But his strategy has increased tensionswithout making conflict or a nuclear Iran less likely.
- In the past month, Trump has deployed military assets to the Middle East to counter alleged Iranian threats, threatened to “end” Iran, proposed holding talks, and issued new sanctions against it.
- Iranian leaders remain obstinate in response to Trump’s mixed messages, and have shown signs they might soon stop complying with aspects of the nuclear deal.
- Meanwhile, the top US commander in the Middle East on Thursday warned the threat from Iran remains “imminent.”
It’s been over a month since National Security Adviser John Bolton announced the US wasdeploying military assets to the Middle East to counter threats from Iran, and tensions only seem to be escalating with no resolution in sight.
President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want war with Iran and that his only goal is to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
But there are signs Iran is moving toward restarting its nuclear program as the top US commander in the Middle East warns there’s still a “very real” threat to US troops in the region from Iranian forces or proxies.
Read the article by John Haltiwanger on Business Insider Australia.