Latest news with #ElliottAbrams
Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Iran-Israel war enters day seven
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Tom Burges Watson, we continue our coverage of the Iran-Israel war as it enters its seventh day. Guests: Jeffrey Feltman – Former US assistant secretary of state and former US ambassador Elliott Abrams – Former US Special Envoy for Iran
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran finds itself in difficult endgame with Israel, Trump
Iran is finding itself in a difficult endgame in its fight with Israel, with no calvary coming to support it. Israel now has control of the skies over Tehran, and public discussions on an attack on the Fordow nuclear facility are moving to the mainstream. Such an event would require the involvement of the United States and the consent of President Trump, as B-2 bombers dropping bunker-busting bombs are the only way to destroy the capabilities of a plant hidden deep in an Iranian mountain. It's not clear Trump will authorize that kind of direct involvement, which would risk pulling the U.S. into a deeper conflict. But either way, Iran's regime is being confronted with existential questions. 'There's got to be a kind of chaos in both the IRGC and the army,' said Elliott Abrams, U.S. special representative for Iran in the first Trump administration and senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 'There's been a lot of high-ranking officers killed. I don't know what orders they're getting from the top — they're getting hit in very significant ways every day,' Abrams said. 'So, is the command and control structure loosely intact, or is it falling apart?' Iran's path out of a conflict with Israel is unclear, unless it comes to the negotiating table with the U.S. in a way that is satisfactory to Trump. Russia is unlikely to offer its assistance to Tehran, nor are other nations in the Middle East, wary of being drawn into a conflict against a top U.S. ally. 'Iran doesn't seem to have fast friends,' said Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Security. 'I fear that Iran's leaders are simply too ideological and stubborn to make a compromise to end this war,' Fleitz added. 'But we're in a situation that no one had anticipated.' Much depends on Trump, who before the war began was trying to get the two sides to agree to a deal at the negotiating table. He has continued to make moves that could prevent things from spinning further out of control. For example, Trump reportedly cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against targeting Iran's supreme leader, though Netanyahu has refused to rule that out. Trump on Monday issued a warning for Iranians to evacuate Tehran as he departed the Group of Seven summit a day early. On his way back to Washington, Trump said he was interested in a 'real end' to the conflict, not just a ceasefire. In the meantime, Israeli leaders and some top allies of Trump have ratcheted up their rhetoric. Trump has stressed Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and he warned Tehran against targeting U.S. assets Tuesday, saying, 'We'll come down so hard. It'd be gloves off.' He said he was considering sending Vice President Vance and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate with Iranian leaders, adding it 'depends on what happens when I get back' but that he's looking for 'better than a ceasefire.' Vance, like Trump, is known for saying he wants to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars, though in a statement on the social platform X he also emphasized the importance of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 'POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal,' Vance wrote in the statement. The White House on Tuesday morning also highlighted more than a dozen instances Trump had said Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon, another rhetoric signal it may be laying the groundwork for more aggressive action. Simone Ledeen, former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East in Trump's first term, said Trump may be angling for a regime change. 'I think it's clear that in order to achieve this … goal of the war, which is complete dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program, regime change might have to occur in order for that to happen,' she said. 'Their capabilities are certainly dramatically diminished, between the assassinations of a lot of the senior military leadership and intelligence leadership on the first night of the Israeli bombardment. They took out a lot of the leadership of the IRGC, just full stop,' she said. 'Those combination of things already has made it difficult for the command and control to function the way that it was meant to — and by difficult, I mean sometimes insurmountable.' Abrams predicted 'the regime could collapse, but I think it's more likely that [it], in essence, gives up.' He predicted the supreme leader realizes 'I've got to agree to the end of the nuclear weapons program or the whole thing will fall on our heads,' Abrams said. 'Trump is not saying ceasefire. Trump is saying we need a deal that solves this problem. And again, by that, I think, does not mean regime change. He means the true end to the Iranian nuclear program,' he said. 'I don't think this war ends, certainly until the end of the weekend. … My guess is less than two weeks. Another week, or 10 days.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Iran finds itself in difficult end game with Israel, Trump
Iran is finding itself in a difficult end game in its fight with Israel, with no calvary coming to support it. Israel now has control of the skies over Tehran, and public discussions on an attack on the Fordow nuclear facility are moving to the mainstream. Such an event would require the involvement of the United States and the consent of President Trump, as B-2 bombers dropping bunker-busting bombs are the only way to destroy the capabilities of a plant hidden deep in an Iranian mountain. It's not clear Trump will authorize that kind of direct involvement, which would risk pulling the U.S. into a deeper conflict. But either way, Iran's regime is being confronted with existential questions. 'There's got to be a kind of chaos in both the IRGC and the Army,' said Elliott Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Iran in the first Trump administration and senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 'There's been a lot of high-ranking officers killed. I don't know what orders they're getting from the top— they're getting hit in very significant ways every day,' Abrams said. 'So, is the command and control structure loosely intact or is it falling apart?' Iran's path out of a conflict with Israel is unclear, unless it comes to the negotiating table with the U.S. in a way that is satisfactory to Trump. Russia is unlikely to offer its assistance to Tehran, nor are other nations in the Middle East, wary of being drawn into a conflict against a top U.S. ally. 'Iran doesn't seem to have fast friends,' said Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Security. 'I fear that Iran's leaders are simply too ideological and stubborn to make a compromise to end this war,' Fleitz added. 'But we're in a situation that no one had anticipated.' Much depends on Trump, who before the war began was trying to get the two sides to agree to a deal at the negotiating table. The U.S. president has continued to make moves that could prevent things from spinning further out of control. For example, Trump reportedly cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against targeting Iran's supreme leader, though the Israeli has refused to rule that out. Trump on Monday issued a warning for Iranians to evacuate Tehran as he departed the Group of Seven (G7) summit a day early. On his way back to Washington, Trump said he was interested in a 'real end' to the conflict, not just a cease-fire. In the meantime, Israeli leaders and some top allies of Trump have ratcheted up their rhetoric. Trump has stressed Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and on Tuesday he warned Tehran against targeting U.S. assets, saying 'we'll come down so hard, it'd be gloves off.' He said he was considering sending Vice President J.D. Vance and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate with Iranians leaders, adding it 'depends on what happens when I get back' but that he's looking for 'better than a ceasefire.' Vance, like Trump, is known for wanting to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars, though in a statement on X he also emphasized the importance of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 'POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal,' Vance said in the statement on X. The White House on Tuesday morning also highlighted more than a dozen instances where Trump said Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon, another rhetoric signal it may be laying the groundwork for more aggressive action. Simone Ledeen, former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East in Trump's first term, said Trump may be thinking of regime change. 'I think it's clear that in order to achieve this… goal of the war, which is complete dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program, regime change might have to occur in order for that to happen,' she said. 'Their capabilities are certainly dramatically diminished, between the assassinations of a lot of the senior military leadership and intelligence leadership on the first night of the Israeli bombardment— they took out a lot of the leadership of the IRGC— just full stop,' she said. 'Those combination of things already has made it difficult for the command and control to function the way that it was meant to and by difficult, I mean sometimes insurmountable.' Abrams predicted that 'the regime could collapse, but I think it's more likely that [it], in essence, gives up.' He predicted the supreme leader realizes 'I've got to agree to the end of the nuclear weapons program or the whole thing will fall on our heads,' Abrams said. 'Trump is not saying ceasefire. Trump is saying we need a deal that solves this problem. And again, by that I think, does not mean regime change. He means the true end to the Iranian nuclear program,' he said. 'I don't think this war ends certainly until the end of the weekend… my guess is less than two weeks, another week or 10 days.'
Free Malaysia Today
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
100 days of Trump: US president is overturning world order
Donald Trump has waged an unpredictable campaign in the chaotic first 100 days since he returned to office. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : He has launched an unprecedented global tariff war and slashed US foreign aid. He has disparaged Nato allies and embraced Russia's narrative about its invasion of Ukraine. And he has spoken about annexing Greenland, retaking the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51st state. In the chaotic first 100 days since President Donald Trump returned to office, he has waged an often unpredictable campaign that has upended parts of the rules-based world order that Washington helped build from the ashes of World War II. 'Trump is much more radical now than he was eight years ago,' said Elliott Abrams, a conservative who served under presidents Ronald Reagan and George W Bush before being appointed US special envoy on Iran and Venezuela in Trump's first term. 'I have been surprised.' Trump's second-term 'America First' agenda has alienated friends and emboldened adversaries while raising questions about how far he is prepared to go. His actions, coupled with that uncertainty, have so unnerved some governments that they are responding in ways that could be difficult to undo, even if a more traditional US president is elected in 2028. All this comes amid what the Republican president's critics see as signs of democratic backsliding at home that have raised concerns abroad. These include verbal attacks on judges, a pressure campaign against universities and the transfer of migrants to a notorious El Salvador prison as part of a broader deportation drive. 'What we're seeing is a huge disruption in world affairs,' said Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations. 'No one is certain at this point what to make of what's happening or what will come next.' This assessment of Trump's shake-up of the global system comes from Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials, foreign diplomats and independent analysts in Washington and capitals around the world. Many say that while some of the damage already done could be long-lasting, the situation may not be beyond repair if Trump softens his approach. He has already backtracked on some issues, including the timing and severity of his tariffs. But they see little chance of a dramatic shift by Trump and instead expect many countries to make lasting changes in their relationships with the US to safeguard against his erratic policy-making. The fallout has already begun. Some European allies, for instance, are looking to boost their own defence industries to reduce reliance on US weapons. Debate has intensified in South Korea about developing its own nuclear arsenal. And speculation has grown that deteriorating relations could prompt US partners to move closer to China, at least economically. The White House rejects the notion that Trump has hurt US credibility, citing instead the need to clean up after what it calls former President Joe Biden's 'feckless leadership' on the world stage. 'President Trump is taking swift action to address challenges by bringing both Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end their war, stemming the flow of fentanyl and protecting American workers by holding China accountable, getting Iran to the negotiating table by re-imposing maximum pressure,' White House national security council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement. He said Trump was also 'making the Houthis pay for their terrorism… and securing our southern border that was open to invasion for four years'. More than half of Americans, including one in four Republicans, think Trump is 'too closely aligned' with Russia, and the American public has little appetite for the expansionist agenda he has laid out, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on March 13. High stakes The European Union has prepared a range of retaliatory tariffs if negotiations with the US fail. (EPA Images pic) At stake, say experts, is the future of a global system that has taken shape over the past eight decades largely under US primacy. It has come to be based on free trade, rule of law and respect for territorial integrity. But under Trump, who has been scornful of multilateral organisations and often views global affairs through the transactional lens of a former real estate developer, that world order is being shaken up. Accusing trading partners of 'ripping off' the US for decades, Trump has set in motion a sweeping tariffs policy that has roiled financial markets, weakened the dollar and triggered warnings of a slowdown in worldwide economic output and increased risk of recession. Trump has called the tariffs necessary 'medicine' but his objectives remain unclear even as his administration works to negotiate separate deals with dozens of countries. At the same time, he has all but reversed US policy on Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine and engaged in an Oval Office shouting match with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late February. He has warmed to Moscow and stirred fears that he will force Nato-backed Kyiv to accept the loss of territory while he prioritises improved relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The administration's belittling of Europe and Nato, long the central pillar of transatlantic security but accused by Trump and his aides of freeloading off the US, has caused deep unease. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, after winning February's election, expressed concern about European relations with the US, saying it would be difficult if those who put 'America First' actually made their motto 'America Alone'. 'This really is five minutes to midnight for Europe,' Merz said. In a further blow to Washington's global image, Trump has employed expansionist rhetoric long avoided by modern-day presidents, which some analysts say could be used by China as justification if it decides to invade self-governed Taiwan. With his blustery style, he has insisted that the US will 'get' Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish island. He has angered Canada by saying it has little reason to exist and should become part of the US. He has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, which was handed over to Panama in 1999. And he has proposed that Washington take over war-ravaged Gaza and transform the Palestinian enclave into a Riviera-style resort. Some analysts say Trump may be seeking to resurrect a Cold War-style global structure in which big powers carve up geographic spheres of influence. Even so, he has offered no details on how the US could acquire more territory, and some experts suggest he may be assuming extreme and even over-the-top positions as bargaining ploys. But some countries are taking him seriously. 'When you demand to take over a part of the kingdom of Denmark's territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?' Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a news conference in Greenland in early April. 'This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations.' Coping with Trump 2.0 Other governments are also beginning to recalibrate. The European Union – which Trump has claimed, without evidence, was formed to 'screw' the US – has prepared a range of retaliatory tariffs if negotiations fail. Some countries such as Germany and France are looking at spending more on their militaries, something Trump has demanded but which could also mean investing more in their own defence industries and buying fewer arms from the US. With its historic friendship with the US now strained, Canada is seeking to strengthen economic and security links to Europe. This comes against the backdrop of Canada's national elections on Monday dominated by voter resentment of Trump's actions, which have triggered a nationalist wave and fuelled perceptions that the US is no longer a reliable partner. South Korea too has been rattled by Trump's policies, including his threats to withdraw US troops. But Seoul has vowed to try to work with Trump and preserve the alliance it regards as critical against the threat of nuclear-armed North Korea. US ally Japan is also on edge. It was taken by surprise by the magnitude of Trump's tariffs and 'is now scrambling to respond', said a senior Japanese government official close to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. A key question is whether some governments will quietly hedge their bets by forging closer trade ties to China, Trump's No 1 tariff target. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in early April, and China said recently it exchanged views with the EU on bolstering economic cooperation. Beijing has cast itself as a solution for nations that feel bullied by Trump's trade approach, despite its own record of sometimes predatory practices internationally, and is also trying to fill the vacuum left by his cuts in humanitarian aid. Aaron David Miller, a former veteran US diplomat in Republican and Democratic administrations, said it's not too late for Trump to shift course on foreign policy, especially if he begins to feel pressure from fellow Republicans uneasy over economic risks as they seek to retain control of congress in next year's mid-term elections. If Trump holds firm, the next president could try to re-establish Washington's role as guarantor of the world order, but the obstacles could be steep. 'What's happening is not yet beyond the point of no return,' said Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. 'But how much damage is being done now to our relations with friends and how much adversaries will benefit is probably incalculable.'
Wall Street Journal
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
One-Way Ticket to Tyranny
Regarding 'Put Not Your Trust in Recep Tayyip Erdogan' (Letters, April 16): Elliott Abrams could have referenced what King Abdullah of Jordan recalls Mr. Erdogan saying: 'Democracy is a bus ride—once I get to my stop, I'm getting off.' It appears that he feels he's at his stop, ready not only to dissolve democracy in Turkey but to work against the interests of fellow NATO member countries in service of his agenda to position Turkey at the head of a Muslim Brotherhood-led Mideast. Stuart Creque
