"His words carry almost no credibility with an Iranian public who saw him just now impose more sanctions," said Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "So if you ask me if Trump has a public relations strategy when it comes to supporting these protests, the answer is no. Iran was included in a travel ban Trump launched early in his presidency aimed at stopping the export of what Washington calls state-sponsored terrorism. While some analysts believe the United States would not be totally uncomfortable with a regime change, Washington has reason to be wary of overstepping too much. It will not be decided by the United States government and that's been our policy for almost three years," Hook said.

Source: International New York Times January 16, 2020 09:11 UTC