‘Aggressive behaviour of Iran curbed’
TEHRAN IS LESS ADVENTUROUS IN SYRIA AND YEMEN AFTER US NUCLEAR DEAL EXIT
US President Donald Trump asserted on Thursday that his decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal had already curbed Iran’s aggressive behaviour.
Iran, he said, was no longer as adventurous in Syria and Yemen, and had relaxed its ambitions to extend its influence all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
“Iran is not the same country that it was a few months ago,” Trump said. “They’re a much, much different group of leaders,” he concluded.
Some experts, in trying to interpret Trump’s comments, pointed to Israel’s recent military strike on Iranian forces in Syria, the pullout of foreign companies from Iran, and the deepening woes of the Iranian economy as signs of how Iran’s position has weakened in the past few weeks.
“Before we pulled out of the Iran deal, Iran’s leadership was arrogant and on the march,” said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies and a longtime critic of the deal.
“What I think he means is that he’s size.”
Meanwhile, Iran held its annual day of protest against Israel yesterday, determined to show defiance at a time of mounting pressure from the United States and its regional allies.
“The US, Saudi Arabia and Israel want to put Iran in a corner, but they don’t know that with this action they are threatening their own security,” said parliament speaker Ali Larijani, addressing a crowd in Tehran.
Thousands took to the streets in Tehran and other cities for Al Quds (Jerusalem) Day, held every year since the early days of Iran’s Islamic revolution to show support for the Palestinians.
This year’s event saw the usual burning of flags and chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, as well as a huge Donald Trump figure being hanged from a crane. But it comes at a time when Iran is under increasing economic pressure after the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and prepares to reimpose crippling sanctions on the Islamic republic. cut them down to