Donald Trump’s former Iran envoy Brian Hook said the president-elect sees Tehran as the “chief driver of instability” in the Middle East blaming the ongoing crisis on President Joe Biden’s failure to deter Iran and its proxies, CNN reports.

Asked whether such countries supported further escalation between Iran and Israel, Hook replied: “President Trump understands that the chief driver of instability in today’s Middle East is the Iranian regime.”

Hook told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Thursday that he believes Trump will seek a policy that will “isolate Iran diplomatically” and “weaken it economically” to stop it from funding groups that “destabilize Israel and (regional) partners.” But he added the incoming president had “no interest” in regime change.

He warned that a “policy of appeasement and accommodation” with Iran was behind the turmoil in the Middle East. “If nobody believes that you have a credible threat of military force, then you’re going to lose deterrence,” he said.