President Trump raised the possibility of talks with Iran at the G7
summit, and Iranian FM Javad Zarif has talked of a “window of
opportunity” more recently. Despite that, analysts see US-Iran talks as generally unlikely.
The big obstacle, as ever, is John Bolton. The hawkish Bolton, and the
also hawkish Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are both vehemently opposed
to talks with Iran, and the sense is that there is a lot of resistance,
with those hawks arguing it is “too early” for the US to meet Iran when
there is more sanctioning and threatening to do.
On Iran’s side, there’s more openness to talks, though Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been very wary of the idea, and President
Rouhani has conditioned talks of letting Iran sell oil internationally.
While that’s a fairly straightforward need for Iran, it’s also something
many of Trump’s aides will fight tooth and nail against. Trump has
assured the public he won’t “give up anything” to Iran, and that’s
probably going tomean even the most reasonable concessions, and
subsequently talks, are off the table.
US Talks With Iran Unlikely Despite Zarif’s Talk of ‘Window of Opportunity’
Administration hawks remain firmly opposed to any talks
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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