US Maximum Pressure on Iran Policy No Longer Working – Iranian Diplomat
In this March 31, 2020, file photo, Iran’s national flag waves as Milad telecommunications tower and buildings are seen in Tehran, Iran
ASHGABAT, (Sputnik) — The US’ policy of «maximum pressure» on Iran, including the economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, have lost all effect and are no longer able to force Iran to make concessions, Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ali Mojtaba Rouzbahani said on Thursday. «The failed policy of ‘maximum pressure’ and unfair economic sanctions are no longer capable of forcing Iran to make concessions,» the diplomat wrote in an article obtained by Sputnik. The US’s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program and a number of promises broken by Washington have laid the foundation for a profound crisis of mistrust, pushing the US to resort to methods that have now completely lost their effectiveness, the diplomat said. «The root cause of the current crisis and the impasse in which Washington finds itself lies in the historic and unilateral violation of commitments by US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly derailed the negotiation process and breached existing memoranda of understanding and other agreements reached with Iran,» the diplomat added. In Rouzbahani’s opinion, the leverage over Iran has been exhausted, and Tehran has proven its ability to defend its territorial integrity and national sovereignty. According to the diplomat, the US has reached the end of the era of unilateral dictatorship and will have to come to terms with the new geopolitical realities of the region. Washington has already faced the consequences of the Strait of Hormuz closure, and political wisdom demands the White House put an end to these «useless and costly risky ventures» as soon as possible, the diplomat wrote. The United States has effectively failed in its attempts to seize control over the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran’s comprehensive superiority in defense, missiles and geopolitics has driven the US military into a «deep strategic impasse» where it can neither continue a full-scale military operation nor retreat without losing face, he argued. «At the end of the day, to safely overcome this man-made crisis the US has only one option, that is to return to the negotiating table and to accept a respectful diplomatic dialogue with Iran,» Rouzbahani said. Since July 8, the US military has carried out several waves of strikes against Iran. The US Central Command claimed the strikes were in response to Iranian interference with commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
