TEHRAN: The final time Donald Trump was within the White House, he pursued a coverage of “most strain” in opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran, together with punitive sanctions.
Now that he’s poised to start one other time period as U.S. president in January, nervousness is rising in Tehran that extra will comply with.
During Trump’s first time period, the United States additionally killed a revered Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps normal in an airstrike on Baghdad’s airport in Iraq.
This historical past between the 2 long-standing adversaries casts a darkish shadow on the prospect of enhancing relations.
“It will likely be unhealthy for Iran,” stated Bashir Abbaspour, 37, who works at a non-public firm, reflecting widespread concern in Iran when information of Trump’s victory broke on Wednesday (Nov. 6).
His victory got here with the Middle East in turmoil following the outbreak of the Gaza struggle in October 2023, triggered by the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented assault on Israel.
That struggle has now unfold to Lebanon, the place Israel is combating Hezbollah, one other ally of Iran which itself has twice launched unprecedented assaults on Israel, in April and October, utilizing drones and missiles.
Iranians keep in mind Trump finest for his marketing campaign of intensified sanctions and Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal that provided Tehran sanctions aid in alternate for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.
The failure of the settlement has put a pressure on Iranians battling galloping inflation and a pointy depreciation of the rial in opposition to the US greenback.
“Sanctions will improve and with that costs will improve. That’s not a superb factor for Iran,” Abbaspour stated of Trump’s return.
Washington formally severed relations with Tehran a yr after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and relations have remained frozen ever since.
