“Using the Cold War strategy of rolling back the Soviet Union as inspiration, senior Trump national security officials believed that destabilizing #Iran within its borders would force the regime to cease its adventurism abroad and, perhaps, collapse.” https://twitter.com/assalrad/status/1284538035086831616

Putting aside arguments that US roll-back efforts led directly to Soviet collapse, the US max pressure strategy against Iran is based on a thin logic that under-estimates the durability of the regime and the potential for harm such efforts could have for the Iranian people.

What strikes me is how clearly Trump Admin officials are thinking in Cold War terms. I engaged a bit with this for @WarOnTheRocks last week https://warontherocks.com/2020/07/penny-wise-pound-foolish-the-iranian-coup-of-1953/

Has the US thought realistically about what kind of govt would come after a “collapse” in Tehran? Have they imagined that the new govt would have a positive view of the US, particularly if it was known that US pressure had destabilized the last govt?

Finally, does the US imagine that Iranians would welcome a govt closely associated with a foreign power? Do they think such a political settlement would be tenable? This line of thinking appears at best optimistic and at worst dangerously naive.