Trump Reasserts Antagonistic Strategy Toward Iran

The White House published the paranoid US President Donald Trump's first national security strategy on Monday, reiterating his campaign to tighten the screws on Iran, which he sees as a primary challenger of Washington's interests in the Middle East.

The Trump strategy came as the White House is making all-out efforts to contain the regional influence of Iran, whose rising clout has so infuriated him that he has concocted the incredulous label of "the world's most significant state sponsor of terrorism" in the 55-page policy document.

The document, which can serve as a predictor of White House foreign policy, was released nearly 11 months after Trump shaped an administration that has hardened American hostility against Iran in a bow to the strong Israeli lobby.

The paper draws from Trump's foreign policy speeches throughout his first year in office, framing Iran as a "rogue state" that "openly calls for our destruction".

The document could provide a preview of how the Trump administration's pressure campaign will develop over the next year.

"The scourge of the world today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate all principles of free and civilized states," the document contended, apparently referring to Iran and North Korea, according to Al-Monitor.  

The nuclear rise of North Korea has so stupefied him that he cannot think straight.

His report alleged, "Iran … has taken advantage of instability to expand its influence through partners and proxies, weapon proliferation and funding.

"It is developing more capable ballistic missiles and has the potential to resume its work on nuclear weapons that could threaten the United States and our partners."

  Incomprehensibly Bad Deal

Speaking at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building just blocks from the White House on Monday, Trump explained his muddled policy as a break with former president Barack Obama's foreign policy that emphasized "democracy promotion" in the Middle East.

"Our leaders engaged in nation building abroad but failed to build up and replenish our nation at home," Trump said, blaming his predecessor who signed a "disastrous, weak, and incomprehensibly bad deal with Iran".

The deal faces strong opposition from Trump, whose stance is at odds with that of the other signatories to the pact, including the American allies in Europe.

Trump, who has repeatedly hammered the deal as the "worst deal ever" and an "embarrassment" to the US, decertified Iran's compliance with the deal two month ago.

However, he tried to pass the buck to the US Congress, saying he might withdraw Washington from the deal if the congress could not come up with a solution to fix its "many serious flaws".

However, the 60-day deadline for congress to decide whether to restore anti-Iran US sanctions lifted under the deal also expired last week.  

The document puts emphasis on growing America's trade relationships, without going into detail regarding future US policy in the region. Al-Monitor reported unnamed US administration officials as saying they are taking steps to deal with the region's challenges, including economic stagnation, the experience of state collapse during the rise of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group and Iran's alleged expansion.

"It's a strategy that is already operationalized. These are principles that have been put into effect over the last year," a senior administration official said on Sunday.

The extremely fearful document also accuses China and Russia of seeking to shape a world "antithetical to US values and interests" by displacing the US from Asia and weakening western institutions such as NATO and the European Union.