Yahya Rahim Safavi: I hope Trump's policy on Iran will have a noticeable shift

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, advisor and assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Iran, expressed hope that the policies of Donald Trump, the future President of the United States, regarding Iran and the Middle East would have a "noticeable change." According to the state news agency IRNA, Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Monday, November 15, at the Geopolitical Crises of the Islamic World conference at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran: "I hope the new President of the United States will have a noticeable shift regarding regional issues, especially Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and will seek to eliminate the roots of insecurity in the region." The advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic also stated that it is still too early to make a "comprehensive and complete" comment on the policies of the elected President of the United States and urged "media" to discuss this position with more contemplation. These remarks come after Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, referred to Trump's statements during his election campaign, saying he made "bigger statements than he can handle, which of course are often made during campaigns." Trump had previously stated in September that if the Iranians "circle around our beautiful destroyers with their small boats," they would be targeted. His remarks referred to the speedboats of the Revolutionary Guards, which sometimes approach American warships in the Persian Gulf. The United States has described these actions as provocative and dangerous. Following such statements, Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, called on Sunday for avoiding "hasty comments and premature judgments" about Donald Trump. The Speaker emphasized that analyses and comments from Iranian officials regarding the elected President of the United States should be "more mature" so that the Iranian Foreign Ministry can take a "clear position" on the matter. On the other hand, on Tuesday, Aladdin Boroujerdi, Chairman of the National Security Commission of Parliament, predicted that "Trump during the campaign and the slogans he made during that time will be different from Trump during his presidency." According to IRNA, Mr. Boroujerdi stated regarding the possibility of the U.S. violating the JCPOA that this agreement is a "formal international commitment" backed by a UN resolution signed by six countries. He added: "If one country out of the six commits this violation, which it has done so far, it will negatively affect the implementation process within the same scope of one country." Donald Trump had previously called the nuclear deal with Iran a "disaster" during his election campaign, describing it as "the worst deal ever made through negotiation." He also stated at the AIPAC conference, a pro-Israel lobby in the U.S., that his "top priority" after winning would be to "cancel the disastrous deal with Iran." Meanwhile, Walid Phares, an advisor to Donald Trump, stated on Sunday to the Ilaf website that "there are multiple ways to amend or cancel the nuclear agreement."