Dennis Ross, Columnist

On Iran, Trump and Netanyahu Finally Disagree

Tehran has its own version of “maximum pressure,” and it’s leading the U.S. and Israel in different directions.

September 5, 2019 at 1:00 PM UTC

Dennis Ross is counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and served in senior national security positions for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the author of "Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World."

Crumbling edifice?
Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

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President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel are usually on the same page, especially on Iran. But over the last few days, their scripts have diverged.

Trump, at the G-7 summit on Aug. 26, emphasized that “Iran is not the same country that it was two and half years ago when I came into office.” It is no longer the No. 1 nation in terms of supporting terrorism, he said, “Because they can’t spend like they used to spend.” The implication is that the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions has so severely damaged Iran’s economy that its behavior is changing for the better.