Washington, DC - The United States has suggested that Iran should rethink its foreign policy and focus on its economy after apparent setbacks this year.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had succeeded in damaging Tehran's allies, Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as Iran's own military capabilities. direct strike in October.

"There is no doubt that this has not been a good year for Iran, and we see that play out every day," Blinken said.

He added that Iran must now make "fundamental" choices.

"One choice he can and should make is to focus on himself and focus on building a better, more successful country that delivers for its people ... and to stop engaging in these adventures or disasters throughout the region," he said.

With President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House next month, Iran finds itself in a vulnerable position due to the losses suffered by its partners.

Meanwhile, Israel presses on with its attack in Gaza, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. After the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israel also promoted its expansion into Syria, with plans to increase settlements there.

'Ashes of Resistance'

Israel also emerged from a 14-month war with Hezbollah seemingly on the edge after a cease-fire agreement required Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Lebanon's south.

Hezbollah has long been seen as the spearhead in a network of allies known as the "axis of resistance" that Iran has helped build in the Middle East.

But the Lebanese group emerged badly wounded from the conflict, which culminated in 62 days of all-out war.

While Hezbollah managed to inflict damages on invading Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, Israel killed the group's top military and political leaders, including its chief. Hassan Nasrallah.

In addition, Israeli officials said they had wiped out a large part of Hezbollah's rocket arsenal.

The cease-fire that came into effect on November 27 was supposed to end hostilities, but the Israeli army almost daily strikes in Lebanon, indicating that he intends to use force to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military power.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed victory, arguing that it had thwarted Israel's project to eliminate it from Lebanon entirely.

Nevertheless, analysts say a beleaguered Hezbollah means a weakened Tehran. The group may no longer be in a position to act as an effective force against Israel should a regional war involving Iran break out.

Tehran's regional influence was dealt another blow with the fall of President al-Assadanother ally. His government was overthrown earlier this month after opposition fighters captured Damascus.

Still, Iranian leaders projected defiancewhich rejects claims that the "axis of resistance" has been defeated.

"With the developments in Syria and the crimes that the Zionist regime is committing and the crimes that America is committing and the help that some others are giving them, they thought that the resistance is over," Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in ' said a statement. speech on Tuesday.

"They are completely wrong."

On Wednesday, Iranian media quoted a top military official as saying that Iran would respond militarily to the Israeli attack in October.

Iran fired almost 200 missiles at Israeli military bases on October 1 in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the assassination of Nasrallah in Beirut earlier this year.

Iran's nuclear program

But Israel's growing reach in the Middle East has raised concerns that Iran could build a nuclear bomb to restore deterrence and protect itself from potential Israeli attacks.

However, Iranian leaders have repeatedly said that the country is not seeking nuclear weapons.

Blinken said on Wednesday that an Iranian attempt to get a nuclear bomb was "not inevitable".

“It's something that might be more of a question now because they've lost different tools. They lost different lines of defense," he said.

"Certainly, you're going to see more thought about it, but the costs and consequences for them to go down that route, I think, will be severe."

Blinken praised the 2015 nuclear agreement which saw Iran curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions on its economy.

Former President Donald Trump, who was re-elected to a second term in November, eventually scrapped the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018.

As the US re-applied and imposed sanctions on the Iranian economy more finesIran has begun to enrich uranium to higher levels, reducing the time needed to obtain the material for a nuclear weapon from months to weeks.

The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden held indirect talks with Iran, but negotiations ultimately failed to revive the deal.

With Trump taking office next month, the U.S. is expected to increase economic pressure on Iran even further.

Although the president-elect portrays himself as an anti-war politician, he has several foreign policy hawks in key positions in his administration.

'Prospect of negotiation'

Blinken said Wednesday that diplomacy with Iran is still possible.

"There is the prospect of negotiations. It obviously depends on what Iran chooses to do and whether it chooses to engage,” he said.

“And of course the incoming administration will have to make a decision. Last time President Trump pulled out of the deal, he said he wanted a so-called "better, stronger deal." So let's see. I think that would be a better way to approach it."

Blinken added that regardless of which American party is in power, Washington will always be committed to ensuring that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.

Israel, the top US ally in the region, is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal. Washington has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, which has been accused by United Nations experts and leading human rights groups of committing genocide in Gaza.

Yet the US portrays itself as a defender of freedom and human rights in the Middle East.

While dealing with external threats, the Iranian government has faced domestic anti-government protests in recent years, which it has met with a harsh security crackdown, according to rights groups.

When asked about the possibility of the US supporting Iranian opposition forces to oust the government in Tehran, Blinken urged caution.

"I think if we look at the last 20 years, our experiments in regime change have not exactly been resounding successes," he said. "So, I think we have to have an appropriate amount of humility to focus on a problem like that."