Trump’s Ukraine envoy says world must reapply ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran By Reuters

Written by John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) – Keith Kellogg, US President-elect Donald Trump’s new envoy to Ukraine, said during an Iranian opposition event in Paris that the world must return to a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran to turn it into a more democratic country. on saturday.

Trump pledged to return to the policy he followed in his previous term, which sought to destroy the Iranian economy to force the country to negotiate an agreement on its nuclear program, ballistic missile program, and regional activities.

“These pressures are not just kinetic, not just military force, they have to be economic and diplomatic as well,” retired Lt. Gen. Kellogg, who is set to be Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told attendees in Paris. It is an Iranian opposition group based in the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

He said there is an opportunity to “change Iran for the better,” but this opportunity will not last forever.

“We have to take advantage of the weakness we see now. There is hope, and so must action.”

He has previously spoken at activities of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, most recently in November, but his presence in Paris, even in his personal capacity, indicates that the group is receiving the attention of the new American administration.

Kellogg postponed a trip to European capitals earlier this month until after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

It was not clear whether he would use his trip to Paris to meet with French officials to discuss Ukraine. The French presidency, Foreign Ministry, and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond for comment.

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also spoken at NCRI events in the past. The group has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the existing Iranian authorities, although it is unclear how much support it has within Iran.

In her speech at the beginning of the event in Auvers-sur-Oise, the group’s headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said that the regional balance of power has shifted against the Iranian leadership with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The “crushing blow” to its most important ally, Hezbollah, is its war with Israel.

She added: “It is time for Western governments to abandon their previous policies and stand with the Iranian people this time.”

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political arm of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, has held frequent rallies in France, often attended by former high-ranking officials from the United States, Europe, and Arabs critical of the Islamic Republic.