Cartoon by Jamal Rahmati

Team Trump signals harder line on Iran as Tehran pledges defiance

Iran International: Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely herald a tougher line on Iran, with Trump and his prospective administration officials signaling a return of their so-called maximum pressure policy only two days after their election victory.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country is bracing for a potential Iranian retaliatory attack any day, was one of the first world leaders to call Trump and congratulate him after his victory.

The two leaders discussed Iran as a key security issue, according to Netanyahu's office. They "agreed to work together for Israel's security as well as the threat posed by Iran."

The president-elect's hard line on Iran was indicated by Brian Hook, Trump's former Iran envoy who is leading the transition team at the State Department according to several media reports.

Trump’s policy aims to isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken its economy, Hook told CNN on Thursday, adding that, though regime change is not the goal.

"President Trump has no interest in regime change in Iran. The future of Iran will be decided by the Iranian people," he said. "But Trump would isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically so that they can't fund all of the violence that's going with the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas, Hezbollah and these proxies that run around Iraq and Syria today, all of whom destabilize Israel and our (Persian) Gulf partners."

Hook called Iran the chief driver of instability in the region and said if the Trump administration decides to deter Tehran, regional countries harmed by Iranian policies will do everything they can to be part of those efforts.

In the previous Trump administration, Hook served as the US special envoy for Iran. During his tenure in office, the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander who had led the Islamic Republic's foreign military operations. That turned him as well as Trump and his state secretary, Mike Pompeo, into targets of Iran's assassination plots, according to the FBI.

Iran says 'not swayed by threats'

Following Trump's election victory, Iran's Vice President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif expressed hope that President-elect Trump and Vice-president-elect Vance "will stand against war as pledged and will heed the clear lesson given by the American electorate to end wars and prevent new ones."

"Iran, having shown its resolve and ability to stand up to any aggression, will not be swayed by threats, but will be cognizant of respect," Zarif said.

The Trump administration, however, is not expected to accept the Iranian vice-president's olive branch. Hook said in 2019 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's actions, rather than Zarif's words, are the true marks of Iran's intentions.

"Zarif is very good at talking. This is essentially his stock in trade. And so Foreign Minister Zarif is a man without much power. The real foreign minister of Iran is Qassem Soleimani, the general of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps" Hook said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.

"Zarif presents a very seductive storefront of this administration".