TEHRAN – Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, has argued that the Trump administration’s sanctions against Iran have failed to cause the Islamic Republic to suffer.

“The president thinks he’s getting tough on the mullahs when he’s really just causing ordinary people to suffer,” Slavin said in a piece published on The American Conservative on Tuesday.

She referred to U.S. sanctions on different countries, including Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba, saying, “What has occurred, however, is the steady impoverishment of people in countries that have been sanctioned.”

“The impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran and Cuba has been particularly cruel, since during the Obama administration people in both countries had their expectations raised for a better life,” she added.

Slavin said while the Trump administration officials assert that the sanctions are aimed to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, in reality, “Iranian officials refuse to talk without a credible offer of sanctions relief.”

Many observers believe the goal of American sanctions is not a new deal but simply to weaken and destabilize the Islamic Republic, she noted.

“With Donald Trump’s first term more than halfway over, the cruelty and futility of his sanctions predilections are evident,” she explained.

“Even now, the Trump administration has refused to provide practical guidelines to European companies seeking to sell non-sanctioned goods to Iran. U.S. officials are also threatening to sanction the Iranian counterpart to INSTEX, a barter vehicle set up by the European Union for trade with Iran that has yet to become operational.”

MH/PA