The News
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, shortly after ordering a “maximum pressure” campaign on the Middle Eastern nation.
In a message posted on Truth Social Wednesday, Trump stated that he wanted to see a “Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement” with Iran and that the nations should begin working on it “immediately.”
Iran has been developing weapons-grade nuclear technology for years, with indicators suggesting that the country — which is closely aligned with Western adversaries Russia and North Korea — is now closer than ever to an atomic bomb.
Iran has repeatedly denied it is developing an atomic bomb, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian telling foreign diplomats Thursday that “We are not seeking nuclear weapons,” and that “verifying this issue is an easy task,” AFP reported.
Trump’s statement marks a sharp departure from his first term decisions to withdraw from a previous nuclear deal and heavily sanction the nation, an approach the US president was widely expected to continue. However, following a year of bloodshed in the region, which saw Iran’s proxy militias Hamas and Hezbollah severely weakened, Iran can “ill-afford to antagonize Trump,” analysts told the Financial Times.
Signs suggest that Iran may be open for talks: A US flag painted on the floor of Iran’s presidential complex for visitors to trample on was quietly removed before Trump’s inauguration, and the US president’s freeze on foreign aid was lauded by Iranian state media, as pro-democracy activists in the nation had their funding halted.
However, the window for negotiations is “brief,” two former Biden officials argued, and the temperature is still high: Trump stated Thursday that if Iran were to assassinate him, he has told his advisers to “obliterate” the country.
If a deal were to be struck, sanctions relief in exchange for international monitoring and reduced uranium stockpiles may be the US president’s best bargaining chip, the former administration officials said.
