TEHRAN (FNA)- Former CIA director John Brennan stated that the US President Donald Trump administration’s policy of pressure against Tehran is a failed policy because there is “a culture of resistance” in Iran.
The Trump administration has been moving down a “cul de sac” with its policies toward Iran, Brennan said in an interview with The Irish Times newspaper published on Saturday.
“The United States has gone down this cul de sac with Iran, by putting pressure on the regime, in the false belief that they will change. It’s a culture of resistance in Iran,” he added.
Referring to some of Trump’s policies specifically, the ex-CIA chief stressed that “by reneging on the Iran nuclear deal, by designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization, by tightening sanctions on Iran and forcing European parties to the agreement to renege on their obligations, the perception in Iran is that the Trump administration ultimately wants to overthrow the regime.”
Since taking office in 2017, Trump has taken a progressively bellicose posture toward Iran. A year and a half into his term, he unilaterally withdrew Washington from an international nuclear deal with Iran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and imposed sanctions against Tehran. He then began pressuring the other cosignatories, including European states, to also abandon the deal.
The remarks came at a time of growing tensions between Tehran and Washington, and days after the US Maritime Administration warned that “Iran and/or its regional proxies” are looking to target US and allied interests in the region, including oil infrastructure.
The United States has also been escalating its military presence in the Persian Gulf, recently sending an aircraft carrier group, a squadron of B-52 bombers and additional Patriot air defense systems as a “message” to Iran.
Trump has also announced he would deploy about 1,500 more American troops to the Middle East region.
Without Congress approval, the US administration has recently approved $8.1 billion in arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in a bid to “deter Iranian aggression”.
In early April, the US administration decided to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, while critics called it stupid and dangerous. In a tit-for-tat measure, Tehran labeled the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle-East as a terrorist entity.
Iran has stressed that it will not be the initiator of any war, but reserves the right to self defense and will give a crushing response to any act of aggression by the United States.
Uprooted Palestinian 
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