Intercept bureau chief on tensions between Iran and Trump in last weeks of his presidency

Ryan Grim, the D.C. bureau chief at The Intercept, on Tuesday said that the tensions between President Trump and Iran are rising ahead of the last weeks of his presidency.

Grim told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that experts think that the president wants to strike Iran on his way out from the White House but his advisers are recommending against it. 

“There is a belief among people following this that Trump wants to strike Iran and has been actually attempting to execute on that desire over the past week or two,” Grim said.

But the attempt “is being thwarted by people around him, who recognize that this is just an expression of some kind of lingering resentment toward Obama and the Iran deal and is in no way in the U.S. national interest,” he added. 

Grim continued by saying some people fear Trump “could miscalculate” as Iran is “under a lot of pressure” to retaliate against the U.S.  

“So if Trump does figure out a way to get through the military apparatus and launch a strike it’s quite possible it could lead to significant retaliation,” Grim said. 

Iranian officials requested on Tuesday for the International Criminal Police Organization to issue a “red notice” for the arrests of Trump and other officials due to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last year. 

Iran has vowed to retaliate for Soleimani’s death, and a few days after his killing, the country launched a rocket strike on an Iraqi airbase with U.S. forces, leading more than 100 U.S. service members to suffer traumatic brain injuries.


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