Trump's consistent criticism of Iran pushes U.S. to point of potential conflict
One constant in President Trump’s malleable foreign policy has been his fierce criticism of Iran and what he described as a weak and dangerous nuclear compact the United States and other countries negotiated with Iran.
Threats and sanctions, and lots of them, have been his go-to response, lately leavened with vague offers of future negotiations.
Trump’s reaction to attacks on two commercial tankers near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday fits the pattern, but it may also reveal the limits of his administration’s strategy of squeezing Iran’s oil-dependent economy even if it means punishing U.S. allies in the process.
“Iran did do it,” Trump told Fox News on Friday, hours after the U.S. miliary released grainy video footage it says shows a small Iranian ship sidling up to a damaged tanker and people on the smaller vessel removing an unexploded mine from the larger ship’s hull.
“You know they did it because you saw the boat. I guess one of the mines didn’t explode and it’s probably got essentially Iran written all over it,” Trump said.
The tanker incident pushed already rising tensions to new heights, with fears of a deliberate or accidental armed clash between U.S. and Iranian forces as Trump and Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exchanged barbs online.
“I do not see Trump as worthy of any message exchange, and I do not have any reply for him, now or in future,” Khamenei’s website quoted him as saying in response to an offer of dialogue.
The Trump administration has said its goal is to cut off all Iranian oil exports, humbling the clerical regime and potentially persuading it to trim what Washington says is Tehran’s support for terrorist proxy groups and open new negotiations.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trumps-consistent-criticism-of-iran-pushes-us-to-point-of-potential-conflict/ar-AACVBnq?li=BBnbcA1
You know that diss had to harm the narcissist's ego.
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