On the eve of Iran’s meeting in Rome on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, summarized the situation quite succinctly… accept Iran’s offer to not build nuclear weapons or there is no deal. I do not think this is hyperbole or posturing. I believe it is the firm position of Iran. The decision is now in the hands of Donald Trump.
The Friday meeting in Rome marks the fifth time that Iran and the US have met for indirect talks. Oman has the unenviable task of running back-and-forth between the two delegations, who have declined to meet in person and talk directly to each other. Over the course of the last month, Iran has heard conflicting positions from Steve Witkoff, Trump’s lead negotiator. After the first round of talks in April, Witkoff said the US was willing to accept Iran’s peaceful enrichment of uranium, which is 3.6%. But, upon returning to Washington, the Zionist crowd clobbered Witkoff, which led him subsequently to make repeated public remarks that Iran would not be allowed to have any enrichment capability.
Iran, with the backing of Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, is willing to accept a 3.6% limit and to allow unfettered inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities in order to ensure compliance. The fly in the ointment is Israel. Bibi Netanyahu and the Zionist zealots are pulling out all stops to pressure Trump and toprevent him from making such a deal. An Iranian agreement to never build a nuke would remove one of Israel’s major excuses for its genocidal activites against the Palestinians and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu and company continue making threats to attack and destroy Iran’s nuclear program, but realize it is an impossible goal without the full support of Washington. Domestic politics in the US is another factor that will constrain, if not prevent, Trump from making a sensible deal with Iran. A large number of the political whores that comprise the Republican and Democrat members of Congress, are insisting that Iran must also destroy its ballistic missile force and end all contacts with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Because Trump needs the votes of people like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz to pass his Big Beautiful Bill to fund the government and deliver tax cuts, he is unlikely to make any compromise with Iran.
The murder of two Israeli diplomats on Wednesday in DC adds even more emotional rocket fuel to the heat Trump is facing for even entertaining a deal with Iran. I want to be proven wrong, but I don’t think Trump has the courage or the backbone to do the right thing with respect to Iran.
For those of you who live outside the United States, I must emphasize that a majority of Americans hold an irrational, rabid hatred of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas… at least those Americans holding political office. We have reached the point that anyone who tries to argue on behalf of the Palestinians is immediately denounced as an antisemite. The same emotional derangement that infects many in Israel is prevalent in the US with respect to Iran and the Palestinian people. Facts no longer matter.
While the prospect of a US-supported attack by Israel on Iran looms on the horizon, there is a chance that diplomatic intervention by the Gulf Arabs might dissuade Trump from embracing the suicidal proposal of Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear processing facilities. Trump is also keen on making the Abraham Accords a reality — an impossible goal if the US attacks Iran in tandem with Israel. I agree with Doug MacGregor’s view that an attack on Iran will likely lead to Iran launching military strikes that will shutter the Persian Gulf. Maybe I am grasping at straws, but I am trying to identify some alternatives to a devastating, horrific war that the US will not be able to control or win.
Reprinted with permission from Sonar21.
