Expert Sees Little Chance of Trump-Rouhani Meeting

(Israel Hayom) Ariel Kahana - Dr. Raz Zimmt, an expert on Iran at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and a former defense official, said: "It is my assessment that no such [Trump-Rouhani] meeting will be held, not necessarily because of the Americans, but because of the Iranians. With all due respect to Rouhani, the one who needs to agree to such a meeting is Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei....I see at most a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif and his American counterpart, Mike Pompeo, but even the odds of that aren't high." "What surprised Iran was the intensification of sanctions by President Trump last May, which led Iran to an unprecedented economic slowdown....As a result, the Iranians decided a few months ago to put an end to the 'strategic patience' [policy] and turned to 'opposition.'...There is no doubt a serious crisis, but Iran is not on the verge of economic collapse. They have foreign exchange reserves....They are not about to break." "I don't think Iran will use Hizbullah against Israel right now, because Hizbullah is being saved for Judgment Day. What is Judgment Day? The moment when Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities, and that is far off right now."


2019-09-09 00:00:00

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