Robert Malley, former US special envoy to Iran and architect of the 2015 nuclear talks, said proposed US "D‑Day" sanctions are both unlawful and unlikely to achieve their stated aims, and could invite retaliation and military escalation. He says Washington lacks clarity on outcomes and the plan is hostile and ambiguous; adviser Bessent warned that immediate, full enforcement would shock or even destroy the global financial system. Malley: pressure can collapse Iran’s economy and currency — metri

Robert Malley, former US special envoy to Iran and architect of the 2015 nuclear talks, said proposed US "D‑Day" sanctions are both unlawful and unlikely to achieve their stated aims, and could invite retaliation and military escalation. He says Washington lacks clarity on outcomes and the plan is hostile and ambiguous; adviser Bessent warned that immediate, full enforcement would shock or even destroy the global financial system. Malley: pressure can collapse Iran’s economy and currency — metrics the administration would cite as success — but that would not reliably change Tehran’s core positions. If sanctions trigger economic collapse, Tehran is more likely to retaliate than surrender, increasing the risk of the very military escalation the measures aim to avoid. He added that civilians, not regime elites, would bear the main cost, making the measures an indiscriminate and potentially illegal attack on ordinary Iranians.