The Middle Eastern country has been atthe forefront ofglobal attention lately asTrump has carried throughon his pledge topursue a hard line againstthe Islamic Republic, claiming that his predecessor was much too lenient onwhat the American President has sincesmeared onTwitter asbeing the worlds #1 interror. This position perfectly aligns withwhat Netanyahu has been saying foryears, showcasing that the US-Israeli Strategic Partnership has recovered fromthe tumult ofthe Obama years and is now ontrack tobe stronger thanever. In fact, Trump even earlier suggested that he would seek tofundamentally renegotiate or outright scrap the Iranian nuclear agreement, a dramatic act which would surely please his Israeli friend if he actually goes throughwith it butcould destabilize the entire Middle East.
In the run upto possibly doing that, Trump has already imposed sanctions againsta handful ofIranian business and individuals, a move which has evoked sharp condemnation fromTehran. The US says that the countrys latest ballistic missile test violates the nuclear accord, though Iran and even Russia refute this accusation. Nevertheless, when Trumps triggered, there doesnt seem tobe any stopping him, and reports have sincecirculated that his administration is considering designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) asa terrorist organization. Should this happen, and theres no clear indication whether it will or not, then this would per the US legal and military doctrines theoretically put any IRGC forces inSyria and Iraq inthe crosshairs ofTrumps muscular anti-terrorist policy. If any IRGC units are present inYemen, then they might also be targeted, too. Suffice tosay, Israel would be more thanpleased, so Netanyahu might lobby forthis tohappen duringhis visit.
The two leaders definitely have a lot totalk about, buteven amidstthe disturbing questions swirling aroundIsraels settlement policy and other such issues, it can be strongly inferred that Iran will nonetheless occupy center stage intheir discussions, and that Trump and Netanyahu will come outof their meeting witha strong message forthe Ayatollah.
Andrew is joined by Gilbert Mercier, author of "The Orwellian Empire", editor inchief of "News Junkie Post" and geopolitical analyst, andEfraim Inbar, professor atBar-Ilan University and the ?founding director ofthe Begin-Sadat Center forStrategic Studies.
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