In an article published in the Guardian, Dalton said the statement by Mike Pompeo that sanctions will be used to ensure Iran “behaves like a normal country” is ironic.
The US is not a “normal” country, the former diplomat wrote. Complicity in a horrifying aggression against Yemen and supporting the extension of Israeli regime's colonization of Palestine are not acts of normality.
The truth is that the US has been trying to influence outcomes in the direction of its real or perceived interests.
Nevertheless, the US has determined that its stance towards Iran should be a belligerent one. Will that reap any strategic rewards?
In my view, Iran will remain basically stable despite the surge in inflation and recession that the IMF says are coming down the line.
Currently, there is no internationally agreed campaign against Iran. The EU, for example, has designed a work-around to achieve some financial flows, though the Iranians are not relying on this ever working.
Elsewhere in his article, Dalton says Iran is open to negotiations, but only on terms that are acceptable.
Like the US, it will try to build a position of strength from which to talk.
And all the while there are risks for the US if it does not lower its sights. Chinese, Indian and Turkish demand for Iranian oil could prompt the creation of alternative channels of exchange in world trade, leading to a fall in the standing of the dollar and of the ability of the US to weaponize it in future.
With its current policies, rather than reaping strategic rewards, the US may be putting on a show of weakness to the world. With no prospect of bringing allies to its side or forcing Iran to accept its excessive and unrealistic demands, it is on a hiding to nothing.
MR/PR
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