If I was Iranian I just would never trust the US to honor any agreements as long as the foreign policy blob evidently has an irrational hate-boner and normalizing relations is a partisan football...
If I was Iranian I just would never trust the US to honor any agreements as long as the foreign policy blob evidently has an irrational hate-boner and normalizing relations is a partisan football that evidently flips back and forth every time there is a change in the White House.
The deal we offer Iran is functionally “agree with our Democrats to disarm yourselves so that our Republicans can have an easier time bombing the shit out of you.” How do we even begin to repair that trust?
The Biden administration has been negotiating quietly with Iran to limit Tehran’s nuclear program and free imprisoned Americans, according to officials from three countries, in part of a larger U.S. effort to ease tensions and reduce the risk of a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. goal is to reach an informal, unwritten agreement, which some Iranian officials are calling a “political cease-fire.” It would aim to prevent a further escalation in a long-hostile relationship that has grown even more fraught as Iran builds up a stockpile of highly enriched uranium close to bomb-grade purity, supplies Russia with drones for use in Ukraine and brutally cracks down on domestic political protests.
Iran would agree under a new pact — which two Israeli officials called “imminent” — not to enrich uranium beyond its current production level of 60 percent purity. That is close to but short of the 90 percent purity needed to fashion a nuclear weapon, a level that the United States has warned would force a severe response.
Iran would also halt lethal attacks on American contractors in Syria and Iraq by its proxies in the region, expand its cooperation with international nuclear inspectors, and refrain from selling ballistic missiles to Russia, Iranian officials said.
In return, Iran would expect the United States to avoid tightening sanctions already choking its economy; to not seize oil-bearing foreign tankers, as it most recently did in April; and to not seek new punitive resolutions at the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency against Iran for its nuclear activity.
The broad outlines of the talks were confirmed by three senior Israeli officials, an Iranian official and a U.S. official. American officials would not discuss efforts to win the release of prisoners in detail, beyond calling that an urgent U.S. priority.
If they can stop the flow of Shahed drones to Russia, that would have an appreciable effect on the burn rate for Ukrainian AA munitions. I just wonder about the practicality of any negotiated...
If they can stop the flow of Shahed drones to Russia, that would have an appreciable effect on the burn rate for Ukrainian AA munitions. I just wonder about the practicality of any negotiated settlement holding with Iran for more than six months. The JCPOA was something (not ideal, but what is?) but after tearing that up and the protests over he last year, it's hard to imagine either the West or Iran playing nice.
Seems like something that should remain a backchannel agreement, rather than a public one. Much better to have the reporting like "no new drone deliveries observed for __ months", "__ prisoners released", "Is Iran signalling a thaw towards the West?" -type headlines out there for a while, then the door would be open for a public facing policy/position change.
If I was Iranian I just would never trust the US to honor any agreements as long as the foreign policy blob evidently has an irrational hate-boner and normalizing relations is a partisan football that evidently flips back and forth every time there is a change in the White House.
The deal we offer Iran is functionally “agree with our Democrats to disarm yourselves so that our Republicans can have an easier time bombing the shit out of you.” How do we even begin to repair that trust?
If they can stop the flow of Shahed drones to Russia, that would have an appreciable effect on the burn rate for Ukrainian AA munitions. I just wonder about the practicality of any negotiated settlement holding with Iran for more than six months. The JCPOA was something (not ideal, but what is?) but after tearing that up and the protests over he last year, it's hard to imagine either the West or Iran playing nice.
Seems like something that should remain a backchannel agreement, rather than a public one. Much better to have the reporting like "no new drone deliveries observed for __ months", "__ prisoners released", "Is Iran signalling a thaw towards the West?" -type headlines out there for a while, then the door would be open for a public facing policy/position change.