Financial Tribune - The resignation of US Defense Secretary James Mattis and his likely replacement by an Iran hawk could intensify the US pressure on Tehran, a foreign policy expert said.

“General Mattis was both a proponent of JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or Iran’s nuclear deal] and an opponent of war,” Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian diplomat, said in a talk with ISNA, suggesting that his absence would pave the way for a stronger pressure campaign.

Mattis handed in his resignation on Thursday after falling out with US President Donald Trump over his foreign policies, including the American military presence in the Middle East.