Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, has said threats of force by former US president Donald Trump against Tehran are unlikely to compel the Iranian government to accept Washington’s demands.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Geneva, Vaez said Trump had long believed that economic pressure or credible military threats would eventually force Iran to comply. He added that this approach had failed so far and was unlikely to succeed, as the Iranian leadership considers surrender to US terms more dangerous than enduring a potential American strike.
Vaez also termed recent European Union moves to sanction Iran, including a possible decision to place the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations, as largely symbolic. He said such measures were unlikely to produce any meaningful impact.
The EU has previously imposed sanctions on the IRGC over Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, and further restrictions would not alter the situation, he said.
Since Trump’s first term in office, Washington has designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organisation. Despite this, Vaez said, the Revolutionary Guard continues to suppress dissent inside Iran without restraint.
