After nine months of deliberation, careful consideration and guidance from senior advisors, President Trump has a new, comprehensive strategy on how to deal with Iran.
Much of the focus in recent weeks has been on whether President Trump will recertify the Iran nuclear agreement. According to White House officials he will decline to recertify, technically keeping the U.S. in the deal. Congress will be responsible for either scrapping or decertifying the deal. If they fail to act within a given time period, the deal becomes invalid.
But President Trump's Iran strategy goes well beyond the regime's nuclear program and focuses on their broad, dangerous behavior and position as an enemy of the United States and the west.
“It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction,” President Trump will say during a speech Friday afternoon.
According to details put out by the White House, the core principles of the new strategy are the following:
-The United States’ new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Iran’s destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.
-We will revitalize our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.
-We will work to deny the Iranian regime – and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people.
-We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons.
-We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGC’s gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges.
-Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.
The list of Iran's bad behavior is long: support for Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations around the world, blocking of travel and shipments through the Persian gulf, taunting U.S. military vessels in international waters, threatening to annihilate Israel, unfounded imprisonment of Americans in Iran, regular calls for the death of "Great Satan" America, partnership with North Korea in order to develop a nuclear weapon, destabilization of the Middle East, murders of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, etc.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps will be at the center of the strategy. The administration has considered categorizing the military force as a terrorist organization and is up against a Congressional deadline to do so. It is unclear whether the administration will go as far as making the declaration.
President Trump will give a speech from the White House Friday afternoon at 12:45 et outlining his new Iran strategy and detailing his decision not to recertify the Iran nuclear agreement.