In the run up to possibly doing that, Trump has already imposed sanctions against a handful of Iranian business and individuals, a move which has evoked sharp condemnation from Tehran. The US says that the country’s latest ballistic missile test violates the nuclear accord, though Iran and even Russia refute this accusation. Nevertheless, when Trump’s triggered, there doesn’t seem to be any stopping him, and reports have since circulated that his administration is considering designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organization”. Should this happen, and there’s no clear indication whether it will or not, then this would – per the US’ “legal” and military doctrines – theoretically put any IRGC forces in Syria and Iraq in the crosshairs of Trump’s muscular “anti-terrorist” policy. If any IRGC units are present in Yemen, then they might also be targeted, too. Suffice to say, Israel would be more than pleased, so Netanyahu might lobby for this to happen during his visit.
The two leaders definitely have a lot to talk about, but even amidst the disturbing questions swirling around Israel’s settlement policy and other such issues, it can be strongly inferred that Iran will nonetheless occupy center stage in their discussions, and that Trump and Netanyahu will come out of their meeting with a strong message for the Ayatollah.
Andrew is joined by Gilbert Mercier, author of "The Orwellian Empire", editor in chief of "News Junkie Post" and geopolitical analyst, and Efraim Inbar, professor at Bar-Ilan University and the founding director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
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