Trump's moves are obviously being coordinated with Israel: Analyst

"Trump’s hostile actions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are advancing the scenario where the US might target the group with missile strikes under the pretext that they're "terrorists" if they don't depart from Syria after the defeat of Daesh. Both moves are obviously being coordinated with "Israel" and are part of their joint plan to sabotage Iran's anti-terrorist success in Syria,” said Andrew Korybko in an interview with the Basirat Base.

Andrew Korybko is a political analyst, journalist and a regular contributor to several online journals, as well as a member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People’s Friendship University of Russia. He specializes in Russian affairs and geopolitics, specifically the US strategy in Eurasia. His book is "Hybrid Wars: The Indirect Adaptive Approach to Regime Change”.

The following is the full text of the interview:

Basirat: US President Donald Trump in a major confrontational stance against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Friday refused to certify multilateral deal on Tehran peaceful nuclear program. What do you think about his speech last night?

Korybko: Trump's speech was predictable and is in line with everything that he promised while on the campaign trail. He seeks to endanger the deal in order to create an atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding Iran's future economic outlook, which in turn is designed to scare Western businesses away.

In addition, his hostile actions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are advancing the scenario where the US might target the group with missile strikes under the pretext that they're "terrorists" if they don't depart from Syria after the defeat of Daesh. Both moves are obviously being coordinated with "Israel" and are part of their joint plan to sabotage Iran's anti-terrorist success in Syria.

Basirat: In your opinion, what will be the reaction of other parties? Especially EU?

Korybko: The EU is against Trump's actions, but it remains to be seen whether they have the political will to resist American pressure for going along with it. After all, the EU is nowhere near as economically close to Iran right now as it was to Russia in 2014 before Washington forced Brussels to sanction Moscow, so it's possible that they'll told on this front too and end up following the US' lead once more. What's important to keep an eye on right now isn't the EU's rhetoric, but whether its businesses continue investing in Iran, since it might say one thing but do another.

Basirat: In addition Trump imposed further sanctions against the country’s elite Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. Why Trump has been targeting on IRGC?

Korybko: Trump is framing the narrative that the IRGC is a "terrorist organization" in order to precondition the international public to "accepting" that the US might strike the group on "anti-terrorist" pretexts if it doesn't depart from Syria after the defeat of Daesh. Whether he ultimately gives it that label or not is a moot point, since Trump could strike first and then give it that label immediately afterwards.

In any case, sanctioning the IRGC at the same time that he decertified the nuclear deal sends a hostile message and telegraphs that he might be planning to strike these Special Forces units in the near future.

Thank you for taking the time.

INTERVIEW BY AMIR MOHAMMAD ESMAELI