Washington 0
11 November 2019

A senior U.S. official posited that “with an explicitly revolutionary geopolitical agenda and a legitimacy narrative grounded in oppositional stances to the physical and ideological power of both East and West – not to mention that of Israel and the Sunni monarchies of its neighbourhood – the Iranian regime is profoundly revisionist, and its behaviours intentionally destabilising”. “Getting such a ‘grievance state’ to accept nonproliferation-related norms of self-restraint may not be impossible”, he added. “The fact that Iran agreed to negotiate over its nuclear program in 2013 suggests economic pressure can work – and that if such pressure is combined with aggressive diplomacy, something better than the notably inadequate Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action can be achieved – something with permanent constraints that addresses the full spectrum of Iran’s malign activities”.

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