Trump administration denies pursuing regime change in Iran
The US "maximum pressure" campaign lets the Donald Trump administration look like it is being tough on Iran while reducing US involvement in Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
WASHINGTON — The United States is not pursuing regime change in Iran, a top State Department official insisted today, even while he highlighted recent Iranian protests, the Iranian currency’s plunge in value against the dollar and the Donald Trump administration’s urging of countries around the world to drop their imports of Iranian oil to zero by November.
“This new strategy is not about changing the regime,” State Department policy planning chief Brian Hook told journalists at the State Department today. “It is about changing the behavior of the leadership in Iran to comport with what the Iranian people really want them to do.”
“The Iranian people are rightly frustrated with the regime, and they are expressing their frustration in nationwide protests and in smaller acts of defiance throughout the country,” Hook said.
The White House, asked about US policy on Iran, highlighted Iranian protesters’ economic grievances with the Iranian regime.
