The Trump administration has reopened dialogue with Iran, despite Israel’s opposition. The conditions set by the parties, however, make an immediate agreement difficult.

After many years of geopolitical tension between the US and Iran over the nuclear issue, the US administration has returned to the negotiating table with Tehran. In 2015, Washington and its allies signed an agreement with the Iranian government that regulated the issue. The agreement consisted of Iran’s commitment not to build the atomic bomb in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions against it.

But in 2018, under pressure from Israel, President Trump, during his previous term, decided to nullify the agreement and further tighten sanctions against Iran. The Middle East is currently going through a serious phase of instability: the war against Gaza, the collapse of the Syrian state, the political crisis in Lebanon and the armed conflict between Yemen and Israel.

In this dire context, Trump, surprisingly, decided to reopen the dialogue with the Iranians on nuclear issues. Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran began on April 15 in the capital of Oman. During the various meetings that followed, there was a climate of optimism on both sides. But the gap between the conditions set by one side and the other is difficult to bridge.

The Americans are asking for the dismantling of all nuclear sites, the renunciation of the production of ballistic missiles and the breaking of relations of support for the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance, in addition to abstention from support for the Yemeni government in Sana’a. All this in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran. The Iranians, on the other hand, want to talk exclusively
about the nuclear issue.

No renunciation of its program. Iran insists that nuclear power be used exclusively for civilian purposes. And this is permitted by international law. A fatwa by the Guardian of the Revolution, Khamenei, in 2003 asserts that Iran does not intend to equip itself with the atomic bomb because this contradicts the dictates of the Islamic religion.

Furthermore, Iran is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Relations with the Agency’s inspectors have not always been idyllic due to the strong politicisation of the IAEA, over which the US exercises strict control.

Trump’s initiative did not please Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at all. Israel has long been trying to drag the US into a direct war against Iran under the pretext that Iranian nuclear power would be a threat to Tel Aviv’s security. It should be remembered that Israel is the only country in the Middle East/Persian Gulf that has the atomic bomb, built by France and tested in Algeria and the Pacific.

Furthermore, Israel is not a member of the IAEA. Today, Iran is a major power in the region, which is why Tel Aviv would like to weaken it (with US military help), because it is considered the main obstacle to the realisation of the “Greater Israel” project. In fact, all the Arab countries of the Gulf (in addition to Egypt and Jordan) have been “tamed” by Israel through Washington.

Aside from the circumstantial statements, none of these countries has done anything to stop the war against Gaza. Now it remains to be seen whether the Zionist lobby will succeed in sabotaging Trump’s initiative to negotiate with Iran. But pushing the Israelis too far could backfire on them. The American president is growing impatient with his friend Netanyahu. (Waving Israeli and Iranian flags. 123rf).
Mostafa El Ayoubi