Talks With Iran Will Cover Nukes
Iran is reportedly within months, if not weeks, of producing nuclear weapons-grade fissionable material. The Biden administration did nothing to impede Tehran’s progress, and Trump is making it a priority to convince Iran of the error in its ways. To that end, at a session on Saturday, April 12, in Oman, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will represent American interests, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will stand for Iran.
Negotiations between unfriendly nations always promise strange twists and turns. For example, according to the Daily Caller, “Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to aid President Donald Trump in securing a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, Bloomberg reported.” It was during a February phone call with Putin that Trump proposed the idea. Since then, behind-the-scenes efforts to establish the date and venue have been ongoing. A potential diplomatic issue is the difference in how the talks are characterized. During the Trump-Netanyahu press conference, the president explained:
Iran is reportedly within months, if not weeks, of producing nuclear weapons-grade fissionable material. The Biden administration did nothing to impede Tehran’s progress, and Trump is making it a priority to convince Iran of the error in its ways. To that end, at a session on Saturday, April 12, in Oman, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will represent American interests, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will stand for Iran.
Negotiations between unfriendly nations always promise strange twists and turns. For example, according to the Daily Caller, “Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to aid President Donald Trump in securing a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, Bloomberg reported.” It was during a February phone call with Putin that Trump proposed the idea. Since then, behind-the-scenes efforts to establish the date and venue have been ongoing. A potential diplomatic issue is the difference in how the talks are characterized. During the Trump-Netanyahu press conference, the president explained:
“We’re having direct talks with Iran. And they’ve started, it’ll go on Saturday [April 12]. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen … Very high level. We’re dealing with the Iranians. We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly. You know, a lot of people say, oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates, or you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries. No, we’re dealing with them directly and maybe a deal is going to be made, that’ll be great.”
Trump described the talks as “direct.” In contrast, Iran has characterized them as “indirect.” Reuters reported: “Although Iran has rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand for direct talks, it wants to continue indirect negotiations through Oman, a longtime channel for messages between the rival states, said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.” The talks will be mediated by Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, and the extent of the mediation may determine how direct the talks are. Regardless of how the discussions happen, having them at all is a sea change.
The optics of having Netanyahu present when Trump made the revelation signaled the complete blessing of Israel, expanding the dimension of the negotiations. Iran’s stated purpose to acquire nuclear weapons to intimidate Israel validates Jerusalem’s stake in the outcome of the talks. Trump has been vocal about his consideration of military action against Iran if its continued proxy war against US interests doesn’t stop, especially the Houthi rebels’ attacks on commercial shipping and American warships.
Washington Wants Tehran to End Proxy Support
In addition to the US insisting Iran stop its nuclear weapons program, America’s negotiators will stress that Tehran’s support for attacks on US forces through its proxies in Iraq and Syria will not be tolerated. In response, Iran warned its Gulf neighbors that any assistance to the United States, such as overflight rights, would be met with serious consequences. However, Iranian leadership is not in a particularly strong position. The greatly reduced capability of Iran’s air defenses caused by Israeli attacks, the loss of its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the diminished power of proxies like Hezbollah, orchestrated by Israel, combine to weaken Iran’s negotiating prowess.
Other factors also make up the backdrop to the meeting. The United States has enlarged its naval presence in the region, adding another aircraft carrier task force and positioning B-2 Spirit stealth bombers at a Navy support facility in Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean. These actions send a strong message that it is prepared to engage militarily. Trump expects Iran to enter good-faith discussions to stop its nuclear weapons program and abandon its attacks on US interests. His vision of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East manifested in his first term with the Abraham Accords. Talks with Iran are the first step in making it a reality.
Dave is a retired U.S. Air Force Pilot with over 180 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller and has served in executive positions in the private sector aerospace and defense industry. This article was first published HERE
8 comments:
The problem America has is that Putin, Xi and the Iranain leaders are all a lot more intelligent than Trump is. Trump's behaviour to date doesn't give him a lot of credibility.
Dave Patterson is right. Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons or fund terrorists groups. Sadly, some innocent Iranians will suffer, and this should be kept to a minimum.
“….America has no more patience with Iran trying to build a nuclear weapon and fomenting conflict in the Gulf region.”
Ask Iraq, Libya and Syria for example what happens without any ability to defend against Judeo-American aggression: destruction of the country and regime change favourable to Judeo-American interests.
The best way of ensuring a country is not attacked or “regime changed” by US-Israeli efforts is to have nuclear weapons. Israel has its own illegally obtained nuclear weapons, and because of this Ace up their sleeve, they think they can do whatever they wish. Iran having the same capability would keep Israel in check, not destabilise the region.
Look at all of the ongoing wars and instability in the Middle East over the last 20 or 30 years in particular, and it is not being driven by Iran (nor any of the since-subjugated nations above): Israel (with the United States doing most of its dirty work) is the principal cause of it all, because its goal is a Greater Israel with all potential threats to its dominance neutralised.
The obvious question is, what gives Israel any claim to dominate the Middle East (and it must be constantly stressed that US backing is a necessary condition of the Israelis achieving their goals)? Of course, Jews, and gentiles steeped in Zionist propaganda, believe Israel has a God-given right to crush the Arabs, but, to sane neutral observers, this stupid idea doesn’t hold water.
“Iran is reportedly within months, if not weeks, of producing nuclear weapons-grade fissionable material.”
Oh dear. These claims have been made by the war hawks in Tel Aviv and Washington for at least the last 20 or 30 years, yet this is still the reason why the US “must” act against Iran (purely for Israel’s benefit, because Iran poses no threat whatsoever to the United States which is literally on the other side of the world from Iran).
Like the prospect of improved US-Russian relations, the United States would demonstrably benefit from good relations with Iran. So what is preventing this? Good relations between the US and Iran (and other Middle East countries) goes against Israeli interests, therefore, the belligerence must continue. It’s an incredible dynamic when, despite “America’s greatest ally” Israel being a drag on the United States in any number of ways, the tail continues to wag the dog and the United States suffers.
Think back to 2003 and the constant lies about “Iraq having WMDs” and being an imminent threat. Anyone with a memory should recognise what is happening here: preparations are being made (including preparing public perceptions with ludicrous propaganda that inverts the reality) for the US taking out, or severely weakening, Iran for no other reason than because Israel’s lust for power is insatiable.
Here's an idea Chuck: how about Israel stops stoking tensions in the region, and retreats to its little corner of the Levant and leave it at that? Israel has shown time and again that it has no intention of doing so, meaning (to adapt your phrase) "some innocents will suffer." Now, based on your previous comments, you are Jewish and/or an ardent Zionist, but you mustn't let that cloud your thinking.
Personally, Israelis and their cheerleaders claiming they want peace while acting in a completely contradictory manner is becoming very tiresome.
Rather an unfortunate analogy used in the headline to this piece. Trump is not arranging the chess pieces. He's picking them up off the floor where they fell when he had his little tanty in his first term. He is directly responsible for Iran's refining its uranium to weapon's grade purity. When the mullahs give him the Islamic version of the middle finger perhaps his advisers might remind him about Humpty Dumpty and what all the King's horses and all the King's men could not achieve.
Trump doesn't have enough powers of concentration, or ability to sort this complex situation.
"Israelis are European, not Arab (Semitic), so they should be the only ones in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons."
Israel has the right to exist. The was war is not about territory. The terrorist group Hamas objective is to kill all Jews in Israel. I am not Jewish. Are you a Muslim?
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