Article: UAE Delegate Delivers Letter From Trump To Khamenei, Iran Says
This article highlights a letter President Trump sent to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The letter was in regards to hopes of negotiating about more nuclear deals and Iran’s access to nuclear weapons. This letter followed a predictable response which entailed a rejection to negotiate from the Ayatollah himself, as he cited the US and Trump as untrustworthy. He further went on to say that Iran will not partake in negotiations by a state that bullies and demands others rather than conducts proper talks. This interaction was rather public, and makes a lot of sense in terms of the response from the predominantly Shia state. As one of the largest revisionist powers on the global stage, and the US’s main adversary in the middle east, relations between both states have been soured to say the least, most recently due to the US leaving the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018 and following this departure with imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Despite how this interaction went down in the public eye, one can suspect that this is all a political show to showcase both sides’ intentions and might to their respective peoples. It is imperative for Iran, a major revisionist power, to showcase its opposition to US-led initiatives like these negotiations, especially under a second Trump Administration. From Trump’s perspective, he too has to publicize his intent to secure nuclear deals as per his foreign policy goals given he is still in the rapid-fire phase of his first 100 days as President. I think negotiations could very well occur between both states behind the scenes, as both have something they want from each other. The US of course is interested in sealing a new Nuclear Deal with Iran, one focused on prohibiting Iran’s nuclear advancement and access to weapons and keeping the Islamic Republic firmly in the NPT. Iran, on the other hand, would benefit off of reduced American presence in Syria with the current military cooperation between US forces and the SDF. After the fall of Assad’s 50-year regime, Syria became and still is a power vacuum, and one of many states in Iran’s way from projecting its regional power into the Levant other than Turkey and supposedly Israel is the US. I do not know if these specific terms would be brought up for discussion in brokering a new Nuclear Deal, however it does show that both states have interests for one another which could move them closer to a deal behind the scenes. I also feel the US withdrawing its military forces, (as he tried to in his first term but was an unsuccessful initiative,) would be in alignment with Trump’s Foreign Policy which leans closer to off-shore balancing and semi restraint. Allowing Iran to project regional influence, however, is not something the US would obviously be fond of.