Trump faced a problem in taming Iran’s nuclear ambitions: He had promised to avoid U.S. involvement in what he derisively called “endless wars” and now he faced the need, once again, to project American power abroad.
To do so, he played a double game: Negotiate with Iran and lead its rulers to believe they had flummoxed the United States once again — just as they had conned Obama and Biden. But, this time, it was Trump who played the fox, inducing Iran to lower its guard while our ally, Israel, was preparing a potentially lethal blow.
By letting Israel do the heavy lifting, Trump has his cake and can eat it too. He can accomplish his goal of denying Iran the ultimate weapon while avoiding another “endless war.”
Trump and Israel both understand the basic math of the equation — Iran cannot continue to spread death and mayhem unless we allow it to sell its oil abroad. And through skillful use of sanctions (and secondary sanctions on anyone who doesn’t cooperate), we can stop Iranian oil sales.
Trump has skillfully imposed sanctions not just on Iran but on shipping companies that would carry its oil to China and its other allies.
By going after the logistical framework of Iran’s oil trade — the tankers, the insurance companies, the storage facilities and the export machinery, the US effectively shut down Iranian oil exports — and its funding to spread terrorism — until Biden lifted the sanctions and let Iran get off the mat and back into the ring.
Now, Trump needs to retrace his steps and shut Iran down again.
Bear in mind that Trump is targeting not only Iran but China, too. It is a twofer.
Ninety percent of Iran’s oil exports (2 million barrels per day after Biden lifted sanctions) goes to China. And China gets 16% of its oil imports from Iran.
Without nuclear weapons, and with its regional proxies defeated (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Syria), Iran is very close to being rendered militarily inert. And it gets closer with every Israeli attack.
Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris’ Reports — More Here.
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