Foreign policy bigwigs: Trump’s Iran policies doomed to failure

US President Donald Trump is risking a potential war with Iran unless he engages the country using diplomacy, not just pressure tactics, dozens of prominent US foreign policy, intelligence and national security figures argue in a new public statement.

The statement comes as Trump prepares to speak at the annual United Nations General Assembly. Iran is expected to be a hot topic during this week’s UN gathering of world leaders, many of whom are upset that Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, Politico reported.

“Applying pressure and unilateral sanctions without viable diplomatic options ... could lead to a more dangerous, destructive and enduring regional conflict with Iran,” argue the more than 50 people who signed the statement. Among the signatories: former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who served Republican and Democratic presidents; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who served in the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton; and former Treasury Secretary Paul O’neill, who served the GOP White House of George W. Bush.

The letter offers tacit agreement with many of the Trump administration’s criticisms of Iran.

The signatories insist, however, that the administration’s goal of reining in Iran “can only be achieved through a strategy that is both multilateral — engaging close allies and other powers — and which combines pressure and diplomacy.”

Signers say Trump should reenter the Iran nuclear deal, in part to build international backing.

Trump quit the nuclear deal in May and has since been reimposing sanctions on Iran.