The liberal foreign policy establishment has, for years, given the American people a false choice on Iran: surrender or war. It seems that President Trump has proven that to be not realistic. He has deterred the Iranian government without full-on confrontation.
“When I became president, Iran was a true state of terror,” Trump said in France this week. Now, “they are failing as a nation.”
Alumni of the Obama administration have been secretly in touch with the Iranians — no doubt to reassure the mullahs that if they wait out Trump, their fortunes will turn.
It is unprecedented to see former administration officials actively undermining official US policy abroad, but the more the Obama alumni clamor to save the Islamic regime from economic ruin, the more we understand that the Trump administration’s strategy is working.
The government of Iran, which regularly holds American citizens hostage, was, according to officials in the past two administrations, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US servicemen in Iraq.
In Syria, the Iranians back a regime that regularly gasses its own people. In Yemen — though you wouldn’t know it from mainstream news coverage — Iran precipitates conflict with Saudi Arabia by backing the radical Houthi rebels. In Lebanon, Iran’s proxy army of Hezbollah threatens our ally Israel. And in Gaza, Iran helps fund the terrorists of Hamas.
But ever since the Trump administration pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, however, Iran’s reliance on its resources, its access to the world’s financial markets and its political legitimacy have been severely damaged.
The Trump administration has hampered Iran’s ability to create conflict in the region and created domestic pressure that may put checks on its militaristic ambitions.
The return of sanctions has cut Iran’s oil exports at least in half, which pushed the nation into an economic downturn. According to the International Monetary Fund, inflation has spiked more than 30% over the past year.
The unemployment rate, especially among the young and urban workers, has skyrocketed. The government is reportedly planning for cuts in military spending.
The Trump administration has laid out 12 demands on Iran, including ending its nuclear and advanced ballistic missile programs, ceasing terrorism, stopping its destabilization of the region and releasing political hostages.
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