'Maximum pressure' on Iran not working: Experts

By Umar Farooq </p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S.'s &quot;maximum pressure&quot; campaign on Iran has not produced the results Washington is seeking, experts at a panel on Iran said Thursday.</p> <p>&quot;I fail to see the strategy. I fail to see a realistic goal,&quot; Barbara Slavin, director of the Atlantic Council's Future of Iran Initiative, told the panel hosted by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).</p> <p>U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports in November after he pulled out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal between Tehran, Washington and five other countries.</p> <p>Washington announced last month that it would end sanctions waivers it granted to countries that were still buying Iranian oil.</p> <p>The moves are a part of Trump's &quot;maximum pressure&quot; campaign to curb sales of Iranian oil, denying what Washington said was the country’s main source of revenue.</p> <p>Slavin said it was a &quot;cruel and counterproductive&quot; policy that will not produce a huge change in Iran's activities in the Middle East.</p> <p>Imposing a complete embargo on a country like Iran is near impossible because of its geographical location, being neighbors with 15 other countries, said International Crisis Group's Iran Project Director Ali Vaez.</p> <p>&quot;Maximum pressure is not producing the results and I think that’s why the administration is getting more and more frustrated and doubling down,&quot; he said.</p> <p> </p> <p>- 'Creative solutions' on oil sanctions</p> <p>Mike Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, noted there is room for negotiations between the U.S. and Turkey in regards to the oil sanctions waivers on Iran.</p> <p>Turkey was one of seven countries, and Taiwan, which received sanctions waivers for importing Iranian oil.</p> <p>&quot;The administration is very much interested in making it as easy as possible for the Turks to do as much as possible with regards to the Iranian energy imports,&quot; Doran said.</p> <p>The White House and State Department have different stances on the issue, according to Doran, with the department's position being that &quot;so long as the countries that are importing Iranian oil are showing a good faith to reduce it, and they are actually reducing the imports, then we can find creative solutions.&quot;