In reaction to the test-firing of a missile earlier this week, the United States administration has directed a serious warning to Iran. President Donald Trump’s office said it was “officially putting Iran on notice.”
Empowered by the U.S. House of Representatives, Trump said that nothing is “off the table.”
Taking note of such a decisive attitude against Iran by the Trump administration, what could the consequences be? Irrespective of the outcome, the U.S. warning simply spells the end of an honeymoon shared by the cleric-led Tehran and an Obama-styled Washington.
Each of the U.S., Iran and the region, now more than ever, face exceptionally different circumstances. Iran pushed itself an inch closer to direct impact with the U.S.
Tehran today is challenged by a strict, driven, strong and decisive U.S., which was not the case with the lenient and hesitant Obama administration.
All the more, Europe which always thought twice about Iran-curbing decisions in an effort to avoid upsetting Obama, has started altering its statements.
A description fitting what happens when Iran is trusted with no true securities- based solely on Obama’s influence- can be cited in British Permanent Representative to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft’s words at a Security Council session: “Away from the nuclear file, Iran continues to play a destabilizing role in the region. This is most clearly seen in Syria … Iran continues to provide substantial military and financial support to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.”
Iran not being trustworthy is no surprising revelation. It has been evident throughout U.S.-Iran negotiations, and in every word Obama spoke justifying and stressing on how important striking a deal was, completely ignoring the gamble made by unleashing an Iran free to wreak havoc in the region that leaves behind consequences measurable on an international scale.
Matters are different now, Obama’s delusional hopes have been cleared, Iran’s word has proven unreliable, the region now faces turbulent winds of change–it will not be easy.
Surely Iran’s defiant responses to the Trump administration have no true value, only sinking the cleric regime’s knee deeper into the mud.
Noticeably, Iran is in a state of confusion, and the bold statements made throughout the Tehran offices suggest that Iran expects for the upcoming conflict to shape out similarly with skirmishes experienced with the 43rd U.S. President’s administration, George W. Bush. Iranian statements hint that the response will take place in Iraq.
Iran cannot fathom that the rules of the game have been changed, so have the circumstances, particularly after Iran getting its hand dirty with the blood of some half a million Syrians, not to mention its mischief played in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. Iran’s sabotage has left it isolated as it still fails to prove trustworthy.
We stand before a new stage. In light of talks on Syria safe zones -opposed by Iran- resurfacing, and Washington warning Tehran on its continued support for the Houthi-led coup in Yemen, we might be looking at an escalation.
This new stage means the turning over of Obama’s page filled with hesitancy and weakness. It is the start of Trump’s resolute times, in which a man rather rises up to a confrontation, which can cost Iran, even if the pay is in economic terms.