Trump’s bluffs: Why US strike on Iran remains real threat

Trump’s bluffs: Why US strike on Iran remains real threat From Venezuela and Iran, Trump has attacked countries in the past when diplomacy appeared to be working. After threatening to attack Iran for days in support of protesters challenging the government in Tehran, United States President Donald Trump appeared to dial back the rhetoric on Wednesday evening. The killings in Iran, Trump said, had stopped, adding that Tehran had told his administration that arrested protesters would not be executed. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Timeline of how Iran’s deadly protests unfolded list 2 of 4 Iran’s FM says no executions of protesters, as Trump lowers rhetoric list 3 of 4 Iran reopens airspace after closure to most flights amid US attack threats list 4 of 4 Trump says ‘we’ve been told killing has stopped’ in Iran Trump did not rule out an attack on Iran, but in effect, negated the rationale for such an attack. Still, as Trump closes in on the completion of the first year of his second term in office, his track record suggests the possibility of US military strikes against Iran in the coming days remains a real threat. We take a look: Maduro abducted - amid diplomacy and limited strikes Since August, the US had positioned its largest military deployment in the Caribbean Sea in decades. The US military bombed more than 30 boats that it claimed - without providing evidence - were carrying drugs to the United States, killing more than 100 people in these strikes. For months, Trump and his team accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading mass-scale narcotics smuggling operations, again without evidence. Amid the boat bombings, Trump even said that the US might strike Venezuelan land next. But in late November, Trump revealed to reporters that he had spoken to the Venezuelan leader. A few days later, the call was confirmed by Maduro himself, who described it as “cordial”. The US then hit what Trump described as a docking facility for alleged drug boats in Venezuela. After that, on January 1, Maduro offered Trump an olive branch, saying he was open to talks with Washington on drug trafficking and even on enabling US access to oil. Trump appeared to be getting what he ostensibly wanted - access to Venezuelan oil and blocks on drugs from the country. Yet only hours later, US forces targeted the capital, abducting Maduro and his wife on charges of narcotics trafficking and transporting them to the United States. Iran bombed - when ‘two weeks’ of diplomacy appeared imminent Venezuela was not the first time Trump launched a dramatic attack at a time when diplomacy appeared to be taking hold. In June, Iran learned the hard way that Trump’s words and actions do not match. Amid rising tensions over US accusations that Iran was racing towards enriching uranium for nuclear weapons, Washington and Tehran engaged in weeks of hectic negotiations. Trump frequently warned Iran that time was running out for it...

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