How Trump set the stage for the Iranian riots by shredding the nuclear deal and imposing sanctions in 2015

Sanctions imposed by Washington after its withdrawal from the nuclear deal have helped cripple Iran’s economy and curbed its financing for Arab militias, but its nuclear aims remain undeterred.

“I see it being a policy of disruption without any plan for replacement,” said Dalia Dassa Kaye, director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation, a research group. “We’ve lost the leverage we might have had by staying in the deal and negotiating stronger terms with European allies by our side.”

Last week, Mr. Pompeo acknowledged to Michael J. Morrell, a former acting director of the C.I.A., that the administration’s strategy would not persuade Iranian leaders to change their behavior. “I think what can change is: the people can change the government,” he said on a podcast hosted by Mr. Morrell, in what appeared to be an endorsement of regime change.