Trump Hardens Terms as Iran Negotiations Reach Critical Stage
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Fresh Sunday reporting in the NY Times says President Trump has responded to Iran's refusal to budge on giving up its nuclear material by tightening US conditions as part of a Memorandum of Understanding to get back to the peace negotiating table.
"President Donald Trump has toughened the terms of a potential framework for a deal to end the war in Iran, and has sent those proposed changes back to Iran for consideration, according to three officials,"NY Timeswrites, but didn't disclose what the precise changes are.
The report then speculates on where these changes likely focus: "Trump has been concerned about parts of the potential deal that would include unfreezing funds for the Iranians, two officials said." If Trump proposes changes to the draft agreement, Iran will make its own revisions as well.
Iran says it will only accept terms it agrees with and is also prepared for the possibility of no deal.pic.twitter.com/KzWnxlWG8G Citing frustration at the slow pace of Iran's response to the proposals, it adds, "He has been harshly critical of President Barack Obama for doing the same in the more than decade-old agreement that was signed to curtail Iran’s nuclear program." Tightening the proposals is meant to ratchet up the pressure and 'force' the Islamic Republic to respond quicker and agree to a deal.
However, the Iranians have time and again rejected being 'dictated to' by Washington, as its top negotiator Ghalibaf spelled out days ago.
Meanwhile there's been a recent change in tone when talking about Iran's military, from Trump himself: "We’ve actually left their military alone — people would be surprised to hear that." President Trump says Iran's military hasn't been hit as aggressively because it's "somewhat moderate" compared to other elements of the regime.
He argues that wiping out "everybody" could cause…pic.twitter.com/gG84lDSrlD This also comes after a two-hour Friday Situation Room meeting Friday wherein it became clear there was no deal yet to be finalized.
According to more from theTimes: The official added that Trump’s changes — a new, tougher proposal — were potentially intended to speed up the process by putting pressureon Iran to accept the framework already sent to Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, for approval.
Reaching the supreme leader has been difficult, so any changes to the document, known as the memorandum of understanding, could mean additional delays.
But for pressure to work, there has to be signs Iranian leaders are getting nervous or desperate - and so far they've not urged Washington or Pakistani mediators for some kind of grand compromise.
Instead they've repeatedly sworn that Iran's highly enriched uranium will never be transferred to the possession of the United States.
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