International Affairs
Reports
Tanvi Madan
Director - The India Project
Fellow - Foreign Policy, Project on International Order and Strategy
[Trump has] given Iran the moral high ground and that is an exceptionally difficult thing to do given the history and reality of Iran's misdeeds at home and in the region. It's just malpractice on the part of an American president.
The way the Trump administration is moving forward [with its Iran policy] is just so hostile to all aspects of Iran that it’s unlikely to produce any traction with the Iranian people or to encourage divisions within the system.
The intent of [any U.S. action] to do with the IRGC is basically to cast a very broad shadow over sectors of the Iranian economy and exacerbate the compliance nightmare for foreign businesses that may be considering trade and investment with Iran.
To the extent the rest of the world is watching this soap opera [regarding Iran] play out in Washington… it really does telegraph how limited our influence is going to be on key issues like this in the future.
The longevity of the [Iran nuclear] deal comes into question if the United States is taking specific actions to undermine it, even decertification.