It’s been fairly well known that France has been trying to broker talks between the US and Iran, but last week, reports indicate those talks came very close to happening, only to fall apart at the last minute.
It got to the point that President Trump was sitting there holding a phone on Tuesday evening, with expectations of a three-way conference call with Rouhani and French President Macron, but Rouhani rejected the talks and nothing came of the call.
Trying desperately to facilitate this, France went to the extent to install a whole secure line in Rouhani’s hotel suite in New York. French officials confirmed “technical arrangements,” but that the call did not take place.
US reports suggest Macron “blindsided” Rouhani with the proposed call at the last minute. Rouhani was said to have been informed by Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly, attacking Iran’s “bloodlust,” and decided not to talk, believing Trump wouldn’t offer sanctions relief.
This may also be the source of conflicting reports on whether the US offered sanctions relief for talks or not, as Iran seemed to be under the impression this was on offer, and didn’t think the US would delver.
The Little Boy still doesn’t understand that he has to climb down from the tree, apologize for his immature behavior before the Big Boy will even consider whether or not it’s worth talking to the Little Boy. let alone trust him with another agreement.
Good for Rouhani. And he’s right about the sanction relief. No way the village idiot gives them up.
Those sanctions could be a thing of the past. Eight more countries have signed the INSTEX trade agreement with Germany, France and the UK. INSTEX is a mechanism that bypasses US sanctions against Iran and allows trade between the EU and Iran to continue. Good for the EU.
INSTEX is a waste of everyone’s time. As long as the countries involved don’t indemnify their corporations directly, the US can just sanction those companies directly if they trade with Iran. What good does it do those companies to trade with Iran by bypassing the Western money transfer systems if they’re cut off from US trade? The EU can’t indemnify them because it could get extremely costly if the US started a trade war with the EU over Iran.
INSTEX is just the EU’s way of avoiding blame for the upcoming Iran war.
The “Great Dealmaker” at work … Hard to make a deal when you lose all your credit with the other side.
And that Macron … What a little poodle!
poodles are adorable.
The Orange Mophead wasn’t going to offer Iran anything most likely. It was probably just another attempt to get a “PR moment” that would support his concept of himself as some sort of “deal maker” – without actually getting any deal.
Rouhani: “Just another crank call from known scam artist and con man, Donald Trump.” I would hang up on him, too.