President Trump doesn’t want to undertake military operations against Iran, but I doubt he wants to be seen as betrarying his own Obamaesque “red line” either. The Iranian regime is tranparent in some limited respects. With “negotiations” scheduled for Friday, Bloomberg now reports:
Iran has asked the US to move diplomatic talks originally planned for Turkey to Oman and to limit the agenda to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tehran wants the talks, originally planned for Friday in Istanbul, to focus only on Iran’s nuclear activities and not its support for proxy militias in the Middle East and its ballistic missiles, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. They added that Tehran also opposed the participation of regional countries, aside from Turkey, in the negotiations.
Iran’s request could heighten tensions with Washington. US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran if it doesn’t agree to a deal, which his administration has signaled must include Iran ending its support for proxies and its ballistic missiles program.
As I say, this is unusually transparent. What is to be done?
