Trump wants to sit down with Iranian leaders — but they don’t share his eagerness to talk.
President Donald Trump wants to sit down with Iranian leaders — but they don’t share his eagerness to talk, revealing the limits of the president’s personal diplomatic overtures.
A U.S. official familiar with the issue told POLITICO on Sunday that the Trump team hopes for three things: that Europe imposes some sanctions on Iran to keep it from further violating the deal; that a financial mechanism the Europeans have set up to help Iran obtain non-sanctioned goods succeeds; and that recent U.S. military maneuvers in the Middle East are enough to deter Iran from further military escalation.
Additionally, Tehran is still smarting from Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal. There’s also lingering suspicion in Tehran that the Trump administration really wants to oust the Iranian regime — not just change its behavior. Any such move by Iran, however, could have immediate consequences, including spurring a new Middle East war or a nuclear arms race. U.S. allies in the Middle East — notably Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — are loathe to see Iran become a nuclear state. Israel has even suggested in the past it would launch a preventive strike to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
But as he often does, Trump has undermined himself by being inconsistent. He has threatened to “obliterate” Iran, beefed up America’s troop presence in the Middle East and sanctioned Khamenei. The Trump administration has also threatened to sanction Iran’s foreign minister, a move that would further undermine a shot at diplomacy.
“We will not give in to international pressure and along with the people of the world,” he said, according to media reports. “We will make them talk to the people of Iran with language of respect and never threaten an Iranian.”
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