LOC14:09
11:09 GMT
BRUSSELS, April 25 (KUNA) -- The US decision on 22 April to end sanctions exemptions for Iran's remaining oil customers, following on an earlier designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), significantly escalates the Trump administration's coercive campaign against Tehran, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a new commentary published today.
"The intent is clear: bankrupt Iran into acceding to unilateral U.S. demands or, even better, imploding its regime," said the Brussels-based think tank.
"But the campaign against Iran is more likely to fuel resistance and retaliation than capitulation.
Washington should heed past lessons lest it provokes a new nuclear crisis or a regional escalation," warns the ICG.
The US strategy's success now depends more on China, India and Turkey - Tehran's remaining key oil customers - than either the U.S. or Iran, it opines.
The commentary concludes that "even in the unlikely event that the Islamic Republic collapses, there is no guarantee that a pax Americana emerges from the ruins of the Iranian economy and its shattered middle class."
"If this is the expectation, then the lesson of Iraq may have been lost on the architects of the 2003 invasion, some of whom are once again in the saddle in Washington," it added. (end)
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