Iran, US complain about each other’s stances as mediators meet with Iranian FM
Por Nahal Toosi — POLITICO – TOP Stories
As Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepared to meet with intermediaries in New York on Monday, Tehran and the U.S. traded jibes over the latest truce proposal.
The discussions were a sign that both sides are serious about diplomacy, even though they still threaten each other. President Donald Trump warned last week that he might “annihilate” Iran if a deal wasn’t reached. In a statement attributed to him, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Monday that the U.S. will suffer “painful blows” and be forced out of the Middle East.
An Iranian official said in a text message that the “main problem” was that “Trump does not seem to have settled on a clear and consistent position on what he actually wants from negotiations.”
“That makes it very difficult to know what the U.S. side is actually prepared to agree to, or even what its long-term aim is at any given moment,” said the Iranian official, who — like others — was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. “It’s therefore difficult to move from discussions to constructing a concrete arrangement.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Trump and other U.S. officials have previously said their top priority is ensuring that Iran abandons its nuclear program.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Iranian delegation, as is standard, has been unwilling to negotiate with U.S. officials directly, and Qatari officials were among those acting as go-betweens Monday.
The Iranian proposal would, according to Tehran, see the Strait of Hormuz reopened to shipping at the end of seven days — if the U.S. agrees to conditions similar to ones laid out in a short-lived truce reached earlier this year. That would include lifting the U.S. naval blockade on Iran.
Trump has rejected the offer. He told reporters over the weekend: “They want to make a deal, and I think that’s fine, I like making a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable.”
U.S. officials also have indicated that they believe that Tehran, in its latest proposal, wants too much while offering little.
A Trump administration official said it appeared the Iranians want the U.S. to make many concessions up front and hope that the Iranians come through with their end of the bargain.
“That’s crazy. How can we trust them?” said the official, who is familiar with the administration’s Middle East strategy.
The way Iranian representatives talk about the fate of the strait is “complicated,” the administration official added, but it seems as if their proposal will ultimately leave them in charge of it and making money off it.
At the moment, the U.S. blockade, along with ramped-up U.S. sanctions, is badly damaging Iran’s economy, and Trump may be willing to keep up that pressure — alongside the possibility of resuming bombing.
Iran “will have hard choices in a couple of months,” the official said.
Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories
