TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The United States is increasing its pressure on Iran in order to reassert its dominance over the Middle East after its failure in Syria, says an analyst.
“The American threats to Iran [have] to be seen in the context of the American defeat in Syria because Washington is mindful that its objective in Syria --namely to overthrow the Syrian government -- has been defeated and the Americans have been humiliated by that defeat. Also Washington is acutely aware that its allies in the Middle East have seen the American objective in Syria [is] defeated,” Marcus Papadopoulos, publisher and editor of Politics First, told Press TV in an interview on Monday.
“So the Americans are trying to reassert that dominance over the Middle East by reassuring [their] principal allies -- Saudi Arabia and Israel -- but also Egypt and … other [Persian] Gulf countries that America’s grip on the Middle East will remain intact, that America is not leaving and of course what better course of action for Washington to take to reassure its allies in the Middle East that America is still supreme in the region than going after Iran? So that is why the Americans now are becoming more and more determined to pile on the pressure on Iran,” he added.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been touring the Middle East to rally support against Iran, but Tehran is not impressed.
The top US diplomat set out on his much-anticipated trip last week, with a declared goal of forging a unified Arab front against Iran, a dream that has brought together Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Before landing in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday morning, Pompeo made important stops in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Perhaps the most important objective of the 9-country tour became clear during his rambling speech in the Egyptian capital Cairo, where he spoke extensively of the US "campaign to stop Iran's malevolent influence and actions against this region and the world."
Since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal last year, the US administration has steadily ratcheted up pressure on Tehran and vowed to increase it until Iran halts what US officials describe as its “malign activities” throughout the Mideast and elsewhere.
As part of its policy of maximum pressure, Washington in early November re-imposed what it called the harshest-ever sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Source: presstv