Speaking with IRNA, Ardeshir Sanaie said that the outgoing US President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure policy against Iran is going through its last days, and although a US military attack against Iran was a top priority for the Trump administration on which many American state analysts had contemplated, keeping in mind the recent developments in the region and especially inside America, it is quite a remote possibility during the last days of Trump’s tenure in the White House.
“Iran managed to exercise a strategic patience and self-constraint policy during the power transfer period in America when the Saudi Arabian and Israeli leaders were perseveringly intriguing the outgoing US president to launch at least a limited US military attack against Iran,” he said.
Sanaie said that the Islamic Republic’s top decision-makers also managed to control the behavior of their supported forces inside and outside Iran so that they will not provide excuses for America and its allies during this sensitive transaction period.
The international affairs analyst meanwhile referred to the business mind of Trump as another factor that led to the defeat of the joint Tel Aviv-Riyadh anti-Iranian plan, arguing, “Trump also somehow calculated the benefits and losses of such and adventurist move and found out that it is highly to the loss of the US forces, and generally speaking, also for America.”
“The internal political challenges between the Democrats and the Republicans, too, consumed a large part of Trump’s energy and that of his team and all in all, such developments led to boycotting the adventurist Iran-attack option. Especially the historical day that the US Congress was occupied, that influenced the entire remaining days of Trump's tenure, and thus the Iran attack plans were totally Gone with the Wind,” he said.
Focusing on president-elect Joe Biden’s policies on West Asia, Sanaie said that he does not think they will differ much from Trump’s policies unless he will change a part of the US foreign policy approach and strategies.
The university professor said that the Democrats’ policies on Arab-Israeli conflict will remain unchanged compared with those of the Republicans, and the only difference will be trying to maintain the balance between the two sides, while during Trump’s tenure the balance was always disturbed highly in favor of Israel.
Regarding the US policies on Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region, Sanaie said that the US policies will remain unchanged, although the Democrats will involve their human rights concerns in their policies.
“Biden’s entry to the White House will also create an evolution in Iran-US relations, as well as those of all involved countries in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), because the Democrats believe by remaining in the JCPOA they can block the path for Islamic Republic of Iran’s becoming a nuclear power,” he said.
This analyst believes if Biden intends to live up to the presidential campaign promises he needs to terminate the sanctions and highly decrease the imposed pressure against Iran’s economy, which will lead to improving the Iranian nation’s living conditions.
“Biden will return the US to JCPOA and will apparently also terminate the sanctions, but in full harmony with the Europeans, and he will also try to focus on the need to respect the human rights and to convince Iran to go to the negotiation table and give at least some concessions on its ballistic missiles and its regional policies,” concluded Professor Sanaie.
1424
Follow us on Twitter @irnaenglish