Sputnik - Sputnik talked about Washington�s policy towards Iran with Scott Bennett, a former US Army officer and counter-terrorism analyst.




US President Donald Trump has warned the rest of�the world to�choose between�the US and Iran. He said that anyone doing business with�Iran will not be doing business with�America. Washington re-imposed economic sanctions on�Tehran after�withdrawing from�the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Meanwhile, the European Commission will block US sanctions against�Iran.

Sputnik: Donald Trump has accused Iran of�malign activity and supporting terrorism; what did he mean by�that, in�your opinion?

Scott Bennett:�In my opinion, the president is referring to�the bad intelligence and propaganda which Israel and Saudi Arabia have always been feeding the president and the neocons in�Washington that have been bloodthirsty and all about�war for�the past�18 years. They've consistently always tried to�paint Iran as�a source of�instability and conquest in�the Middle East when, in�fact, it�s rather more like�Israel and Saudi Arabia are the forces of�conquest. But the president has been told, since�he�s new to�his job, that Iran is a destabilizer, that Iran has been on�the side of�ISIS and financing and backing these wars in�Syria and elsewhere. That really is fundamentally wrong. Iran has been working against�the forces of�ISIS, Al Qaeda, al-Nusra, the Wahhabi terrorism that is spreading up�into Europe; that has spread up�into Germany, Sweden, Britain, Italy and elsewhere. All of�that comes from�Israel and Saudi Arabia's destabilization of�Syria, along�with the gullibility of�the United States and the duplicity of�NATO, France and Great Britain. When he refers to�Iran as�a destabilizer, it really is ignorant and he needs to�be cured of�that, and I think the president has got a lot of�bad advisors around�him, such as�John Bolton, Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo who are not interested in�the advancing the interest of�the American people; they�re not interested in�peace, they are still interested in�this obsession of�world hegemony and full-spectrum dominance that makes the US sort of�the policeman, high priest and executioner of�the world, all in�the same office.

Sputnik: Do you think that given the strength and might of�the American political machine and the global supporters of�the administration that Iran would, in�fact, be prepared to�curb their activities in�exchange for�lifting of�the new sanctions?

Scott Bennett:�Well I don�t think so because Iran views this American aggression as�an existential threat and it is only the beginning stage of�a full-scale information, economic and political war that the United States has been waging, essentially, for�40 years. President Trump is trying to�ratchet it up�and Iran views it as�a threat to�its entire existence; so they�re not going to�back down, I don�t think. They may be wise and skilled enough to�engage in�diplomatic and public relations conversations for�the benefit of�Europe and other parties watching and listening, for�the benefit of�gathering allies and supporters. The Iranians can make overtures to�President Trump as�North Korea did and fully invite the president to�come and learn of�Iran, but�Iran won't be changing anything; it won�t be changing its government, it won�t be changing its right to�self-defense through�its ballistic missile program, or any other missile program, which every country has a right to�do; it isn't pursuing nuclear weapons, it is backing and supporting Hezbollah and Syria and other forces that really are legitimately claiming to�be fighting against�the conquest of�Saudi Arabia and Israel, but�I don�t think Iran's going to�back down. That being said, I think the president again is using bluster, he is using bluff, he is using these economic sanctions as�a tactic to�try and force the Iranians to�some conversation, because the president does view everything that Obama did as�poison. Remember, the United States is in�a civil war, we�ve just had all of�our major Internet companies [take down�pages] that have a sort of�conservative flavor, Ron Paul, Alex Jones, people and speakers and companies, my website even was taken down�mysteriously; we�re having a purge in�the United States of�conservative voices that have traditionally called for�the stabilization of�ties between�the United States and Russia. In fact, the normalization and friendship between�the United States and Russia, as�well as�Iran, I went to�Iran about�a month ago, so we�re having in�the United States a lot of�people and organizations being shut down�by Twitter, by�Facebook, by�YouTube and that�s very, very symptomatic of�massive informational war and the night of�the long knives. So the president himself is under�siege by�these neoconservative, hostile war forces, so I've always said that if Iran can get past�the Obama poison that Trump attributes to�the JCPOA and say �we're happy to�make the same deal with�you and just call it the Trump deal,� maybe with�some modifications that Iran wants and needs that does not compromise our stability, and �yes, we�re happy to�have a conversation, we don�t need to�be in�the deal because Obama signed it, we're happy to�do it if you join in.� But then it becomes a trust issue, can the United States be trusted? If we look at�the track record of�what we�ve done to�Ukraine, and the political coup d��tat overthrow, that Victoria Nuland, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama did when they threw out�Yanukovych, which is the reason that they are prosecuting Paul Manafort, and look what we did to�Libya, and what we've done to�other countries, it becomes very dubious if the United States can be trusted in�anything. That�s the real motivation behind�Iran: �you�re not trustworthy, you have to�prove to�us that you�re not going to�try and do a regime change, something similar like�you promised to�North Korea,� and I think Iran has Russia and China on�their side to�back them.