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President Donald Trump has achieved a vision of peace and prosperity in the Middle East, none considers it possible in his first term. He now has an incredible opportunity to reshape the future of the Middle East for years to come.
This week he took the first step towards the realization of this vision by doubled his campaign for maximum pressure against Iran. His team can supplement this approach to sanctions, continuing the work of the first Trump administration and expanding Abraham’s agreements.
As the last four years have shown, the enrichment and resolution of the abuse of Iranian regime only leads to war and terror. As Trump demonstrates, the best way to avoid these results is through massive and effective penalties against Iranian oil exports that allow the regime to support its dysfunctional economy, to finance terrorist proxies such as Hamas and Hezbol and to inflict pain and suffering to Iranian people.
Ayatola Ali Hamenei meets with senior Iranian officials in Tehran on July 7, 2024. (Iranian leader Press service/Distribution/Anadolu via Getty Images)
That is why we at the first Trump administration, in the direction of the president, have successfully turned to the export of oil to Iran with historical sanctions. At the end of our term, oil exports to Iran fell to only about 400,000 barrels per day. Like an animal caught in a trap, the regime fell apart and tried to release itself, escalating tension and inciting the conflict.
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President Trump has met with this escalation with steel determination in the form of those who are deadly strokes – such as those who took the life of QuDS power commander Kassem Solemani – who maintained deterrence while not putting US soldiers to harm.
By phaseing the Iranian regime and the construction of a coalition of partners and allies wishing to contain Iran through the Abraham agreements, Trump’s first administration laid the basis of a truly calm and prosperous Middle East. I was proud to have contributed to this historical effort as a Secretary of State.
The Biden team has returned to Obama’s era policy to enrich the regime at the expense of America’s security and that of our allies. (Getty Images)
Unfortunately, Biden’s administration favors hiding, not deterrence. He failed to continue our sanctions program, made obscene payments for the ransom of Ayatol, and revived the lies of the Obama era, which the regime would be measured-if only the correct transaction could be achieved.
Voden was misled by the fantasy, Obama’s heirs in the Biden team returned to enrich the regime at the expense of America’s security and that of our allies. At one point from the administration, Iran exported approximately 2 million barrels of oil a day – five times more than several years ago – and Iran sold oil worth $ 144 billion in the first three years of Team Biden.
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This infusion of wealth gave predictable results. Iran resumed the financing of his proxies, Hamas carried out his grotesque attacks on October 7, 2023, and the Huts initiated a blockade of the Red Sea, which lasted more than a year. Iran -supported militias have killed six members of the US service in the last two years of the administration. Iran built and sold thousands of drones to Russia that strengthened the invasion of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, and he sold more oil than ever to the People’s Republic of China.
Ayatola Ali Hamenei, Center and Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulate themselves during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2022. (Iran’s Supreme Leader Service via AP)
The abandonment of our maximum pressure campaign was a crash for America’s foreign policy and national security.
President Trump’s Decision to Reverse Biden’s Appeasement and Bring Back Our Maximum Pressure Campaign Was Necksary, and ITS Timing Is Perfect: ALIELAD ‘s Campaign in Gaza to Destroy Hamas Is Nearing Victory.
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These realities have left the regime in Tehran at their most famous moment in years. Now is the time not only for maximum pressure to return with the support for the organized opposition in Iran, but also for the White House to fully support our ally Israel in its mission to ensure that Iran never reaches its goal to create nuclear weapons.
A torn portrait of Bashir Al Assad is seen inside the Presidential Palace on December 10, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
This will set the foundation of the Iranian people to decide their own future instead of the tyrannical despots in Tehran, and this will give our partners and allies in the region the space and security they need to deepen their economic and security.
Whether in Iran, in the Middle East or elsewhere, the return of the President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is a huge news for freedom lovers – but his team should not stop there.
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Iran is not our only vulnerable opponent: Putin’s military economy is in support of life, and the centrally planned economy of the Chinese Communist Party is under serious tension. Now it’s not the time to retreat, relieve pressure or look for deals – now is the time to ensure a better future for the US and the world.
President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign worked once against Iran and it will work again; He must expand this strategy outside the Tehran regime.
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