Fall in love with Iran, don’t risk World War III

Informed sources say these actions are designed to help keep various Trump officials happy long-standing desire to make it more difficult for the President-elect Democrat to restart negotiations with Tehran and enter into a nuclear deal. And this is a scenario that Biden’s lieutenants and allies have long been preparing for, having already factored into their Iranian strategy that current US officials would do almost anything they could to undermine a resumption of relations with the United States. Obama era between opposing nations.

Trump administration officials who spoke to The Daily Beast frequently point to Pompeo and Elliott Abrams, Special Representative for Iran, as the leaders of the administration’s latest attempt to strike at the regime.

Secretary Pompeo has particularly leaned forward in the administration’s efforts to inflict damage on the Iranian government. On a recent trip to the Middle East, Pompeo met with leaders of Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on how the three countries could work together to counter the Islamic Republic. The trip follows an announcement by the State Department that it recently approved a massive sale of F-35 planes to the United Arab Emirates. The deal was widely seen as a way to get Dubai to cooperate with Jerusalem to deter Iran. And Friday, Pompeo ad additional Iran-related sanctions, this time targeting Chinese and Russian entities for the transfer of technology and items sensitive to Iran’s missile program.

Pompeo and Abrams, officials say, support tough measures, including quiet support for covert actions by other actors. Another senior administration official said Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel was intimately involved in the administration’s underground strategy with regard to Iran.

The president has repeatedly told his advisers that one of his priorities is to avoid a confrontation with Iran in which the US military will die. But Trump is comfortable letting Israel take the lead in targeting, if not killing, leading figures in the Iranian regime in the final weeks of his presidency, officials said. This includes Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the country’s leading nuclear weapons specialist, who was killed on November 27 while traveling in a convoy in the north of the country.

Two senior Trump administration officials said Israel was behind the attack, confirming global suspicions. One of those same officials, although they did not detail the level of US involvement, noted that US intelligence agencies often share information with Israel on issues related to Iran.

“There is obviously a close working relationship between Mossad leader Yossi Cohen and Haspel,” said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a right-wing think tank that has advised the Trump administration on Iran.

Some of the president’s confidants urged him not to draw too much attention to the murder. The administration has chosen to remain rather discreet on the death of the scientist. A source close to Trump said he advised the president in recent days to avoid free tweeting about the assassination. Not only would that be a “bad look,” the source said, but it would likely undermine the administration’s public position to keep the operation at bay, if not further.

The two senior administration officials said talks about taking more active steps to limit Biden’s administration to negotiating a new deal with Iran intensified this summer and coincided with several operations. secrets of Israel, including the murder of deputy al-Qaeda leader Abu Muhammed in Iran, and Israel’s bombing of one of Iran’s centrifuge facilities.

“The Israelis understand that between now and January 20, they will have to inflict maximum damage on the regime,” Dubowitz said.

Trump’s strategy over the next few weeks is clear, one of the senior administration officials said: Continue to use sanctions as a tool of deterrence while providing intelligence to regional allies such as Israel who are common goal of harming the Iranian regime.

This plan is not that different from the one the Trump administration has implemented over the past four years. Since Trump took office in 2017, a cohort of senior officials, advisers, and external advocacy groups have helped design and implement a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran that relied primarily on the implementation of more than 1,000 sanctions against regime-linked officials and companies while covertly targeting Tehran’s assets abroad.

The only difference now, officials say, is that the administration doesn’t just want to punish Iran, it wants to enroll President-elect Biden as well.

Those involved in shaping the Trump administration’s Iranian policy believe the maximum pressure campaign will limit Biden’s ability to get back on track with Tehran, not least because some of the sanctions may be difficult to lift, in particular. especially those focusing on human rights and terrorism. Dubowitz and Trump administration officials familiar with Iranian sanctions have said multinational companies could be so reluctant to risk doing business with Iran now, after thousands of financial designations, that even if Biden lifts sanctions , they will not engage in normal trade relations with Tehran.

People familiar with Team Biden’s thinking say the president-elect has a clear strategy for dealing with Iran and that sanctions are coming in January. This plan relies heavily on Biden’s desire to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration – if Iran returns to compliance.