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President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Saturday that US sanctions on Iran are leading to economic suffering that could lead to a "successful revolution."
Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, delivers a speech at the 2018 Islam Summit in Manhattan, New York, USA, September 22, 2018. REUTERS / Amr Alfiky
"I do not know when we are going to overthrow them," said Giuliani, who spoke on his behalf even though he is a Trump ally, at an Iranian summit organized by the Organization of Iranian-American Communities, which opposes Tehran. government.
"It could be in a few days, a few months, a few years. But that will happen, "Giuliani told a crowd at a Times Square hotel.
Giuliani's remarks contrasted with the Trump administration's policy of not seeking a change of government even as it reinstated sanctions that paralyze the Iranian economy.
Trump reached a global deal on the Iranian nuclear program in May and its administration is taking sanctions against the Islamic Republic, including measures on its oil exports from 4 November.
The Trump administration hopes that the sanctions will force Iran not only to curb its nuclear program, but also to stop militancy in the Middle East.
Iran says it has respected the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran, the United States and five other world powers. A quarterly report from the US atomic watchdog at the end of last month indicated that Iran had remained in the main restrictions of the deal.
John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, told Reuters in August that "regime change" in Iran is not a US policy. He said the administration wanted a massive change in the regime's behavior.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the United States backed by the Arab Gulf states of leading a shootout at a military parade that killed 25 people on Saturday.
"The Iranians obviously have enough," Giuliani said on Saturday. "The sanctions work. Money is useless … these are the kinds of conditions that lead to a successful revolution.
Giuliani has already suggested that the reimposition of sanctions was aimed at regime change. At a June conference where he spoke to the Iranian National Council of Resistance in Paris, he said Trump's policy would stifle the Iranian ayatollahs.
The US State Department said that Giuliani does not speak on behalf of the Iranian administration.
Report by Alice Popovici in New York and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Written by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Sandra Maler
