29 Mar 2024
Monday 19 June 2017 - 10:18
Story Code : 265222

After Daesh: Is Trump risking Full-On war with Iran?

Sputnik - Military experts warn that escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran could easily turn into a full-blown conflict once the war on Daesh terrorists recedes into the background.




US forces have opened fire onSyrian militias backed byTehran three times inthe pastmonth. All ofthe incidents took place atal-Tanf, a remote desert outpost nearthe border withIraq and Jordan, where US and British special operations forces have been training Syrian rebel fighters.


Earlier inMay, US warplanes attacked a Syrian Army motorcade moving toal-Tanf. As a result ofthe strike, two servicemen were killed and 15 were injured. A similar incident also took place onMay 18, killing six.


The series ofclashes has demonstrated how the eastern Syrian desert is becoming an arena forconfrontation betweenthe US and Iran, a potential flashpoint alongsideYemen. Following the attacks onDamascus positions, an operational headquarters ofthe allied forces ofthe Syrian government army threatened the US-led coalition witha retaliatory strike.


Observers point outthat the Trump administration's policy onIran recalls the hardline policy ofthe George W. Bush era, and that now Washington is ready tointensify its activities tofight Iranian influence inthe Middle East.


Throughout the 2016 US presidential campaign, Donald Trump criticized Obama forbeing "too soft" onIran, and forallowing it togain strength inthe region. Since his inauguration, Trump has maintained his anti-Iranian rhetoric, and the first foreign trip ofhis presidency was toSaudi Arabia, where he accused Tehran ofsponsoring global terrorism and called onthe region isolate the Islamic republic asthe main adversary ofthe Gulf monarchies.


"We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim tothe evil they promote," the US president remarked afterTehran suffered a terrorist attack on7 June that killed 17 and injured over40 people.


"By going toSaudi Arabia and declaring there was going tobe an all-out isolation ofIran not only did Trump close the window foran all-inclusive dialogue, buthe also opened upa window fora potential war withIran," Trita Parsi, head ofthe National Iranian American Council and author ofthe book, "Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph ofDiplomacy," told the Guardian.


Trump has not delivered onhis campaign threat to "rip up" the nuclear deal signed betweenIran and world powers inJuly 2015, buthe has shown a readiness totake a more aggressive and confrontational approach withthe Islamic Republic, while Republicans inCongress have called fornew sanctions that would put the agreement's survival atrisk.


"Three ofthe most dangerous places onearth today are inYemen, the area betweeneastern Syria and western Iraq and the halls ofthe US Congress," said Robert Malley, a senior Obama White House official who helped negotiate the nuclear deal, ascited bythe Guardian.


"At this point what I'm hearing fromthe Iranians is they are determined toplay it cool, not overreact towhat the US does, and show they are the ones who are being fully compliant. At some point, it may well be the supreme leader decides: We are going todo something.'"


There is growing concern amongUS allies inEurope that the Trump administration has struck a posture towardsIran beforedeciding ona strategy foraddressing its influence inthe region, aswell asanxiety that such posturing could become louder and more dangerous asTrump feels hemmed inby investigations intohis campaign's alleged links toRussia.


Ilan Goldenberg, a former state department and defense official, cautioned that a fierce collision betweenIran and the US may happen assoon asthe "tolerance that Shia Iranian-supported groups and American-supported groups have shown foreach other" fades asDaesh disappears offthe map.


His predictions were echoed byJennifer Cafarella, an expert onthe conflict atthe Institute forthe Study ofWar, who said that "the larger pictureis the war after [Daesh], the war todominate the security sphere afterthe recapture ofMosul."



https://theiranproject.com/vdcirwarrt1aqr2.ilct.html
Your Name
Your Email Address