Ex-official: Iran was wrong to expect US midterms to restrain Trump

Iran is making a “total miscalculation” if it believes the US midterm elections will restrain President Donald Trump’s actions against it, former senior US official Morgan Ortagus told Iran International. Ortagus, who held senior roles in both Trump administrations, said Washington has been in conflict with the Islamic Republic “not for seven months, but for 47 years,” arguing economic pressure alone would not have prevented the current military confrontation.

She described Trump’s first-term maximum pressure campaign as “incredibly effective” but said it was interrupted under Joe Biden. “Sanctions are not a silver bullet,” she said. “Sanctions are a tactic. They’re a way in which you pursue a larger strategy” one meant to block Iran’s nuclear ambitions, cut proxy funding and stop Tehran becoming “the next North Korea.”

Ortagus said Trump struck in June after Iran proved “intransigent” and was “weeks away from getting a nuclear weapon,” adding Tehran “learned pretty quickly” his deadline was not a bluff. She dismissed acceptance of Hezbollah in Lebanon’s political fabric as “bullshit,” calling the group Tehran-controlled.