Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claims that Washington’s demands that Tehran stop enriching uranium are "excessive and outrageous," accusing the US of demonstrating "sheer arrogance.I don't think nuclear talks with the US will bring results. I don't know what will happen," Khamenei added.
He has demanded that they refrain from making outrageous demands ahead of their fifth round of negotiations. For his part, President Donald Trump continues to warn Iran against refusing to compromise, warning it to "move quickly or something bad is going to happen."
Are the American demands "arrogant,excessive," and "outrageous"? Calling the demands "arrogant" is a negotiation tactic, so we can put it to one side. As for "outrageous," the term evokes wars and their repercussions, not refraining from uranium enrichment.
"We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability" because "enrichment enables weaponization" of a nuclear bomb, US Envoy Witkoff has warned. That is not outrageous.
Rather, missing this opportunity to avoid a war in Iran and the region, a real war, would be outrageous. It would not necessarily be a conventional war, as some in Tehran might imagine, but a devastating conflict that, in many ways, has already begun.
It would be wrong to believe that the war hasn’t already started, regardless of whether Trump says that he prefers diplomatic solutions with Iran. The Israelis have indeed already started their war against Tehran. And so has Trump, a few years ago, during his first term in office when he ordered the elimination of Qassem Soleimani.
Tehran is negotiating with Washington as Trump seeks to rein in Netanyahu, who is keen on waging a devastating war on Iran, attacking its territory and targeting its nuclear facilities, using American - not Israeli - weapons this time around.
Whether Trump and Netanyahu actually disagree or are playing complementary roles is beside the point. If there really is daylight between Washington and Tel Aviv, then the Supreme Leader’s recent statements could bridge the gap and bring Trump closer to Netanyahu.
In my view, the war between Iran and Israel has already begun, albeit not in the unconventional sense. Israel has crushed Tehran’s regional proxies in Lebanon to Gaza, facilitating Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, and the Houthis have only bleak options as they meet their inevitable fate.
Today, Tehran is negotiating with Washington after having lost the leverage offered by armed proxies that had once been a threat to US and Israeli interests. The remnants of its militias in Iraq are in no better shape than Hezbollah, and there is real opposition, in Iraq, to being dragged into armed conflict.
Accordingly, refraining from uranium enrichment is not outrageous, contrary to the Iranian Supreme Leader’s claims. Giving Netanyahu a pretext to launch a devastating war on Iran and missing this opportunity to conduct serious negotiations, would be outrageous.
It would be a tragedy for Iran. Wasting this opportunity would demonstrate that Iran has learned nothing from past regional experiences. Iran should consider the consequences of Saddam Hussein’s intransigence, as well as its own reckless decision to squander billions on Assad, Hezbollah, and others, which far exceeded the money that Gulf states have spent on investments in peace.
That is what’s truly outrageous, not peace and avoiding conflict.
