https://vimeo.com/424330842 Trump and the neocons who run his foreign policy, want to use the pandemic to further their plan of ruining and weakening Iran. Will they use a confrontation with Iran as an excuse to postpone elections? - Trita Parsi joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news podcast Transcript Paul Jay Hi, I'm Paul Jay. Welcome to theAnalysis.news podcast. The Trump administration has made one of its highest foreign policy objectives weakening, and if possible, bringing down the government and ruling circles of Iran. Making America great again include strengthening its role as the global hedgeman, which means being dominant in every region. Iran stands in the way of that. Iran was also the target of the Bush-Cheney administration, who could not abide a regional adversary with the capability of firing ballistic missiles at American troops and allies. Obama's deal with Iran to limit its ability to develop nuclear weapons technology was a break with the neo-con agenda of regime change in Iran. It was an acceptance of Iran as a regional power, a role that was strengthened by the disastrous Iraq war. Trump abrogated that agreement and has even increased sanctions during the Covid crisis, which makes the suffering of the Iranian people worse. Trump, on May 28, essentially scrapped the last remnants of its cooperation with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by ending sanction waivers that allowed Russian, Chinese and European companies to engage in civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran. On May 28, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard unveiled scores of new and upgraded defensive speedboats with a warning to the U.S. that it won't shy away from challenging American naval power. According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the guard said, “Today we announce that wherever the Americans are, we're right there beside you. And in the near future, you will sense us even more.” Tensions almost spilled over into outright conflict after the U.S. killed Iranian general, Sulimani. As we head into the November elections and a possible Trump defeat, what is the likelihood that Trump and the neo cons around him will leave office without even more aggressive action against Iran? Of course, many wonder if Trump will leave office at all with the pandemic and possible conflict with Iran as an excuse to postpone elections. Does Trump want to be a wartime president? Now joining us is TritaParsi. He’s the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the author of Treacherous Alliance, A Single Roll of the Dice and Losing an Enemy. Thanks for joining us today. Trita Parsi Thank you so much for having me. Paul Jay So, Trita, sum up the history of the Trump’s administration's approach to Iran and where we're at now. Trita Parsi I think when the Trump administration first came in, they had several competing goals and approaches with Iran that have now coalesced into one very chaotic one. And at this point, I don't think really Trump is particularly paying attention to this. It's on under the ownership of Pompeo and other people at the State Department. But what I think happened in the beginning is that certain elements inside the government, as well as elements outside, such as the Saudis, the UAE and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, convinced Trump that the reason why Obama's deal was so bad was because he gave up on American leverage too quickly. If Obama had just sanctioned Iran for another six months, the Iranians would have collapsed, and the U.S.
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