Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Thursday the standoff with Iran is unlikely to end without economic collapse in Tehran, telling Fox Business the Trump administration's pressure campaign mirrors the strategy that broke the Soviet Union.
His comments on "Varney & Co." put a senior voice on the House Foreign Affairs Committee behind the White House's refusal to ease sanctions. At the same time, nuclear talks with Iran remain stalled, and a ceasefire teeters toward expiration.
Issa, the committee's vice chair, argued that concessions have failed and that President Donald Trump is running two tracks at once: degrading Iran's warfighting capability and tightening economic pressure until Tehran accepts a "verifiable deal" that includes the removal of all fissile material.
"It doesn't work to placate them. It doesn't work to lift sanctions in return for promises," he said, according to a transcript of the broadcast published by Breitbart.
He framed the approach in Cold War terms, arguing that the Soviet Union did not collapse until it went bankrupt and Iran "may not end until we bankrupt them, just as we did the Soviet Union."
Issa called Iran's insistence on sanctions relief as a precondition for returning to the table a reason to hold the line rather than soften it.
The remarks come at a crucial point in the negotiations.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire announced April 7, giving Iran more time to respond through Pakistani mediators.
The same day, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 14 people, entities and aircraft based in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for procuring or transporting weapons components for the Iranian regime, part of the administration's pressure campaign.
Meanwhile, Iran has hardened publicly.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Iran's delegation in the first Islamabad round, accused Trump of trying to turn the negotiations into "a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering" and said Iran will not accept talks "under the shadow of threats."
The U.S. delayed a second round in Islamabad as Tehran refused to commit to attending.
Substantive gaps remain wide.
Trump has demanded Iran freeze enrichment and surrender its stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium, while Tehran has pushed for a time-limited pause and sanctions relief.
U.S. proposals have ranged from a 20-year suspension to a full halt; Iran has countered with shorter windows.
A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, imposed after the first Islamabad round failed, is at the center of Tehran's objections.
Issa, who is of Lebanese descent, tied the stakes to what he described as decades of Iranian influence over Lebanon and the region, arguing maximum pressure must "continue until it's done."
His testimonial signals that House Republican foreign policy leadership is unlikely to break with Trump on relief in the near term, narrowing the political space for a concession-driven off-ramp.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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