After saying Iran would never talk with the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khaemenei softened his tone, knowing U.S. sanctions has harmed the Persian economy. Without talking to the U.S., Iran faces tough sledding selling it oil into world markets, especially to the European Union. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signaled today that he’s willing to meet with Iran without preconditions, meaning 72-year-old President Donald Trump has given the green light to begin talks to see whether there’s any room for sanctions relief. Calling Pompeo’s overture “word play,” Iran doesn’t know how to respond, other than the knee-jerk reactions of saying , “no.” Since exiting former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JSCPA] May 8, 2018, Iran has engaged in more mischief in the Middle East, backing Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Trump isn’t asking Iran for much, only to resfrain from spreading a proxy war in Yemen, arming Houthi rebels to fight Saudi Arabia. Trump wants Iran to cease-and-desist from supplying rockets-and-arms to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Hamas’s Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. When you think Iran gets nothing from the Houthis, Hezbollah or Hamas, it only makes sense for the Islamic Republic to reconsider the catastrophic financial losses from sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today the Iran wants “respect” from the U.S. as a precondition to open up any dialogue. Whether or not Ayatollah Khamenei goes along with it is anyone’s guess. So far, Khamenei has refused to dialogue with the U.S., unless the U.S. ends sanctions and returns to the JCPA. Since that won’t happen under Trump, Iran must pivot away from its hard line foreign policy.
Pompeo threw an olive branch to Tehran today inviting the Islamic Republic to open up a dialogue without preconditions. Pompeo wants Iran to “reverse the malign activity,” primarily referring to its support of Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah. “We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We are ready to sit down,” Pompeo said, opening up the door. “We are certainly prepared to have that conversation when the Iranians can prove that they want to behave like a normal nation,” Pompeo said in Bellinzona, Switzerland with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. Pompeo’s rhetoric, asking Iran to act like a “normal nation,” is precisely what Iran objects to. When Iran says it wants the U.S. to show respect, it’s the hostile rhetoric that makes conversations difficult. Instead of taking umbrage, Iran should reconsider its current foreign policy leaving it isolated.
Iran blasted Pompeo’s remarks, stating that the U.S., not Iran, should return to a “normal state,” namely, reinstating the 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal. “The other side that left the negotiating table and breached a treaty should return to normal state,” Rouhani said in the government’s official Website. “The enemies sometimes say they have conditions for negotiations with Iran . . . but in recent weeks they said they have no conditions. The threatened us as if they were a military superpower, but now they say the do not seek war,” said Rouhani. Looking to the Swiss, it’s obvious that there’s a long history dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. officials still remember Iranian militants sacking the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding 52 hostages 454 days before releasing them Jan. 20, 1981, the day President Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president.
Questioning whether or not the U.S. is a superpower shows the kind of provocative statements coming out of Tehran. Pompeo tried to look beyond past hostilities and open up a new conversation of what the U.S. can do to help the Iranian economy. Iran’s 59-year-old U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif told ABC News “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos that his government doesn’t do well with pressure. Zarif recently faced criticism from Iran’s Supreme Leader, criticizing the 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal. “It’s not very likely because talking is the continuation of the process of pressure. He [Trump] is imposing pressure,” Zarif said. “This may work in the real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran,” Zarif said, knowing that he’s already on thin ice with the Ayatollah. Zarif, himself, insults the U.S. referring to Trump as a real estate mogul.
Stating last Wednesday for the record that Iran would not negotiate with the U.S., Khamenei finds himself painted into a corner. Whether or not he threatens to ramp up Iran’s uranium enrichment program, it won’t fix the ailing Persian economy. Trump’s new economic sanctions have taken a serious toll out of current and future economy growth. Deriving most their income of petroleum sales, Iran can’t afford a worldwide boycott on Iranian oil. If Ayatollah thinks about it, he’s asking Iran to sacrifice its economy for Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah. Several key Gulf Arab States, including Saudi Arabia, demand that Iran stop its proxy war in Yemen. Trump has offered Iran a real opportunity to end crippling U.S. sanctions but only if Iran changes its foreign policy to stop supplying arms-and-cash to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Gaza’s Hamas terrorists and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.
