Press TV - Iran’s enemies in the administration of US President Donald Trump are “morons” and "idiots" who are "shooting themselves in the foot" yet again with the creation of an “Iran Action Group” to run a more aggressive policy toward the Islamic Republic, an American scholar says.

“We’re seeing that the Trump administration is not really an administration of canny negotiators and businessmen, which is the way Trump sold himself, rather they’re a bunch of raging idiots,” said Kevin Barrett, an author and 9/11 researcher in Madison, Wisconsin.
“The Iranian people can stand strong and recognize that as tough as things look right now, in the long run, they’re actually in a better position now with these morons in Washington employing these ridiculous and counterproductive strategies,” Barrett told Press TV on Friday.

“In a way, Iran has been blessed to have such idiots for its enemies in Washington,” he added.
The US State Department on Thursday formed an “Iran Action Group” to coordinate the Iran policy.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named State Department policy adviser Brian Hook as the group’s director, as well as Washington’s “special representative” for Iran.

"Our hope is that one day soon we can reach an agreement with Iran but we must see major changes in the regime both inside and outside of its borders," Pompeo said in a brief address at the State Department.

“The Iranian people and the world are demanding that Iran finally act like a normal nation. The Iran Action Group will drive daily progress on these objectives, and I hope do much more,” he added.

The move came as the Trump administration prepared to increase economic pressure on Iran by restoring sanctions to force Tehran to end its civilian nuclear program and support for resistance groups in the Middle East.
"They are shooting themselves in the foot in terms of their public relations strategy in the same way that they shot themselves in the foot when they essentially announced they were going to try to install the MEK terrorist group as the new government in Tehran," Barrett said, referring to the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (abbreviated MEK or MKO).
National Security Adviser John Bolton and Pompeo advocated for that "because they are taking huge sums of money as bribes from MEK," he pointed out.

Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement in May, and said that he plans to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Pomepo’s announcement falls on the 65th anniversary of the CIA coup against Mossadegh. The 1953 United States covert action overthrew Mossadegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on 19 August 1953.