Growing military threats and conflicting messages are dampening expectations for de-escalation as Iran and the United States undertake a second round of high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome.
Almost daily, US President Donald Trump tells Tehran that it has two choices: a deal or war. He has previously stated that if the negotiations were unsuccessful, Israel would spearhead a military response. Trump reportedly “waved off” an Israeli proposal to attack Iranian nuclear targets as early as next month, according to a New York Times article on Wednesday.
In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 deal that allowed Iran to reduce its nuclear programs and permit IAEA inspections in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. He reinstituted US sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to force Iran to negotiate a new agreement, claiming it did not do enough to limit Iran’s possible route to a nuclear weapon.
Iran, however, refused and retaliated by breaking more and more prohibitions. It claims it would never do so, yet it now has enough highly-enriched uranium in storage to produce many bombs if it so desired. Iran’s return to the bargaining table seems to have been influenced by the prospect of military action. However, it maintains that’s not the cause.
According to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website, Iran only consented to negotiations because the US restricted its demands to nuclear matters and not because it was afraid of Israeli and American strikes.
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