Former CIA Director David Petraeus said that Iran is going to have to be “very careful not to overplay“ its hand as tensions with the U.S. continue to increase.
“They are going to have to make a decision. Either they are going to have to really tighten their belt and keep tightening, because it's going to get worse,” Petraeus told Martha Raddatz for an installment of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that is set to air on Sunday.
"There are going to be further screws tightening down in maximum pressure campaign and try to grit their teeth and get to November 2020 in hopes that their desired outcome emerges."He added: “They're going to be have to be very careful not to overplay their hand and result in some kind of response that is quite punitive.“
Tensions with Iran have risen in recent weeks as phrases like ‘potentially imminent threat’ have been used by Sen. Marco Rubio. The Trump administration has made it clear from the git-go that it distrusts Iran, withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated with the Obama administration and the leading powers of the world — and pushing sanctions designed to penalize countries that continue to trade with Iran. The tensions grew when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Iran was also withdrawing from the nuclear agreement. Rhetoric on both sides has become more heated.
"Can they try some kind of proxy activities? Can they might make life difficult for us? They can but they're going to be have to be very careful not to overplay their hand and result in some kind of response that is quite punitive," Petraeus said.
Petraeus, who oversaw coalition forces in Iraq and also commanded U.
S. forces in Afghanistan, went on to say Iran may be having second thoughts about any type of retaliation with President Donald Trump in the White House.“I'm not quite so sure that with this White House, that there might not be a fairly substantial response to something that the Iranians might think is just a proxy activity that stays below what they think the threshold is, after which we would respond,” Petraeus said.
“President Trump has been quite clear because he would welcome communication, apparently would be willing to sit down, himself,” Petraeus continued.
Trump said Wednesday that he was “sure that Iran will want to talk soon.” That same day the State Department ordered non-emergency staff from the U.S. embassy in Iraq to evacuate in response to concerns about potential attacks.
The House will have a bipartisan briefing on Iran on Tuesday.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine