Iran Is Seeing Through Trump’s Bluff

“‘Iran has never won a war and never lost a negotiation,’ tweeted Donald Trump in 2020. He had just ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Al Quds,” the Financial Times reports.

“Now it seems like Trump has forgotten his aphorism. Six years later, Iran has survived the recent war with America and holds the whip hand over talks. In reality, nothing substantive has been discussed between U.S. and Iranian negotiators since Trump unveiled his 14-point MoU last month in the Palace of Versailles. Dubbed by others ‘the memorandum of misunderstanding’, the piece of paper is a list of inducements for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.”

“None of the points were binding. Iran did not agree to give up control of the waterway. It simply pledged a resumption of prewar traffic and a return to nuclear talks. In exchange, it would eventually get hundreds of billions of dollars via unfrozen assets, lifted sanctions and future investments. This was not a deal. To paraphrase Tacitus, Trump baked a dessert for Iran and called it a memorandum. The problem is that Iran has all the initiative.”