Brian Hook: The Iranian Government is the 'Main Factor of Instability' in the Middle East

Brian Hook, the former U.S. representative for Iran, states that Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, knows that the Iranian government is the 'main factor of instability in the Middle East today.' This prominent diplomat from Trump's previous administration said in an interview with CNN on Thursday, November 8, that the Persian Gulf region is the 'most dynamic region in the world economically and the most vibrant culturally.' He added, 'This kind of extremism and revolutionary ideology that the Iranian regime exports is one of the obstacles to continuing this good path.' In response to CNN's host question about the possibility of resuming the 'maximum pressure' policy by Donald Trump against the Islamic Republic, given the rapprochement between Iran and the Gulf countries, he stated that when the United States seeks an agreement with the Islamic Republic, it creates space for other countries in the region to do the same. The former U.S. representative for Iran noted, 'But based on my personal experience, I know that when we stand against the Iranian regime... the countries on the front line of the Iranian regime's aggression also do everything they can to be part of this deterrence policy against the Islamic Republic of Iran.' Brian Hook emphasized, 'Trump has no interest in regime change in Iran. The people of Iran will decide about Iran. We have said this [policy] many times during Trump's four years in office.' This prominent diplomat from the previous U.S. administration further stated that Trump had previously said in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, that by diplomatically isolating and economically weakening the Islamic Republic, the regime's ability to finance the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and all its proxy groups in Iraq and Syria, which are factors of instability for Israel and America's partners in the Persian Gulf region, would be eliminated. Brian Hook is among the former U.S. officials who, according to U.S. intelligence and security agencies, are on the Islamic Republic's assassination list. According to some media speculations, he is the head of the transition team at the State Department for Donald Trump's new administration.