US economic pressure will not force Iran to surrender, says Trita Parsi

The Trump administration has announced "Operation Economic Outcast", a global campaign to sever Iran's economic lifelines. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it "economic D-Day", warning that countries doing business with Tehran will face sanctions. But will this pressure force Iran to surrender, or trigger a dangerous escalation? In an interview with Al Jazeera, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said the strategy is extremely unlikely to lead to the collapse or surrender of the Iranian government. He said the pattern so far has been that "when faced with either surrender or escalation, the Iranians escalate", adding that Iran still has "formidable escalatory options" and "escalation dominance." Parsi noted that 50 years of sanctions have imposed significant costs on Iran but have "not been able to translate that pain into desired change" in Iranian national security policies. He said the Trump administration has made "yet another miscalculation in a long series of massive miscalculations", warning that regime collapse could lead to civil war and regional instability. He concluded that the "most likely" outcome is "not an end to the conflict, but yet another round in the escalatory cycle between the two sides." Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://X.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook:   / aljazeera   Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page:   / aljazeeraenglish   Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile #TritaParsi #Iran #IranUS #USIran #IranSanctions #OperationEconomicOutcast #EconomicDDay #TrumpIran #IranWar #IranConflict #IranEscalation #IranDiplomacy #JCPOA #MiddleEast