Trump’s shifting attitude on Iran
PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Monday that he’d “certainly meet” with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and without preconditions, if the Iranian leader were willing.
Speaking at a news conference with Italy’s premier, Mr Trump said he would meet with the Iranians “anytime they want to”. “I’ll meet with anybody,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with meeting.”
The overture marks a significant shift in tone and comes as Mr Trump and the Iranians have been escalating their rhetoric after Mr Trump’s May withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear accord.
The administration is set to begin reimposing sanctions that had been lifted under the 2015 deal next month and has been ratcheting up a pressure campaign on the Islamic republic that many suspect is aimed at regime change.
And it’s unclear whether Mr Rouhani has any interest in meeting. Mr Rouhani’s chief of staff claimed earlier this month in Iran’s state-owned newspaper that Mr Rouhani had rejected eight requests from Mr Trump for one-on-one talks last year.
Mr Rouhani recently warned the US that “war with Iran is the mother of all wars”, prompting an all-caps retort from Mr Trump.
“To Iranian President Rouhani,” he wrote on Twitter. “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fired back with his own message that began, “COLOR US UNIMPRESSED.”
Mr Trump tempered his threatening rhetoric two days
WE’RE READY TO MAKE A REAL DEAL, NOT THE DEAL THAT WAS DONE BY THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
later when he said his administration stands ready for Iran to come back to the negotiating table.
“We’re ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster,” he said. Mr Trump has long cast himself as a master negotiator who is most effective when he meets with his counterparts face-to-face.
He pointed to his recent one-on-ones with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin as examples of the benefits of such gettogethers, though both drew bipartisan criticism.