US president-elect Donald Trump will revive his maximum pressure strategy in dealing with Iran, his freshly appointed senior adviser on the Middle East Massad Boulos said, in the clearest indication yet the incoming administration would enforce Iran's isolation.
“Of course, he will once again pursue his maximum pressure [campaign] against Iran,” Boulos told the French outlet Le Point, adding that Trump will be open to diplomacy alongside his firm approach.
“[He] is very clear that he absolutely does not want Iran to have a nuclear program,” he said, and would be “ready to run serious negotiations” with Tehran to achieve that goal.
Trump in his first term followed a range of measures to weaken Iran’s economy and curb its regional influence. He withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal with Tehran but did not initiate talks that would lead to another agreement.
During his 2024 election campaign, Trump struck a diplomatic tone, saying he did not intend to harm Iran if his red line was not crossed.
“My terms are very easy. Iran can't have nuclear weapons” he said, casting his vote. “I’d like them to be a very successful country,” without going into details of his plans for US-Iran relations.
The relationship between Washington and Tehran remains deeply strained, marked by proxy conflicts across the Middle East. Both sides have traded accusations of fueling instability, further complicating any diplomatic overture.
The ongoing hostility has not made Trump consider regime change in Iran however, according to his senior adviser Boulos.
“He did not talk about regime change but only about a nuclear agreement,” Boulos told Le Point referring to his conversations with the president-elect.
Boulos is a Lebanese-American businessman and the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany. He may prove to be an important player in shaping the incoming US administrations’ policy in that region.
His appointment adds another voice deeply skeptical of Iran to a foreign policy team deeply supportive of the Islamic Republic's arch-foe Israel.
