The problem with Trump's Iran strategy is that he doesn't have one

President Trump and his advisers have no clue what they are trying to achieve other than mere economic pressure. The National Security Strategy—drafted under the supervision of then-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and signed by the president, the person responsible for it as the chair of the National Security Council—names Iran as a priority. The National Defense Strategy produced by the Department of Defense names Iran as a second priority behind China and Russia as top priorities. Pompeo has spent most of his time, at least publicly, dealing with Middle East security. The assistant secretary of state for the region was finally confirmed two and a half years into the administration. There is still no assistant secretary of defense in charge of the Middle East. National Security Adviser John Bolton was just fired for being too hawkish in the Middle East. A year before that, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired for being too dovish in the Middle East. The president ran against regime change before hiring Bolton, a well-known proponent of regime change. Pompeo claims that regime change is not a policy but has met with Iranian dissidents.

The maximum pressure campaign has been nothing but heavy sanctions. That’s all fine and good, but sanctioning is a tactic, not a strategy or a policy. Sanctions are not even the only form of economic pressure—empowering regional rivals economically is one other form, for instance.