Iran pushes back against Trump ahead of Geneva talks in face of major US military deployment
DUBAI: Iran pushed back Wednesday against US President Donald Trump’s pressure tactics ahead of critical talks in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear program, alternating between calling his remarks “big lies” to saying negotiations may yield an agreement through “honorable diplomacy.”
The remarks by two Iranian officials ahead of Thursday’s talks comesomething Mideast nations fear could spiral into a new regional war as the embers of the yearslong Israel-Hamas war still smolder.
Already, Iran has said all US military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk the tens of thousands of American service members in the region.
US warships typically docked in Bahrain appear to have been sent to sea, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.Satellite photos earlier analyzed by the AP showed Iran beginning to rebuild its missile production sites and doing some work at the three nuclear sites attacked by the US in June. Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.
The West and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. It had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity before the June attack — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Responding to Trump, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei sought to compare him to Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister. He accused Trump and his administration of conductingMohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, separately said the US could either try diplomacy or face Iran’s wrath.
“If you choose the table of diplomacy — a diplomacy in which the dignity of the Iranian nation and mutual interests are respected — we will also be at that table,” Qalibaf said, according to the semiofficial Student News Network, a media outlet believed to be close to the all-volunteer Basij force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.Iran and the US are due to meet Thursday in Geneva, their third round of talks under the mediation of Oman, long an interlocutor between Tehran and the West. If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible attack, as well as its mission and goals.
The US has not made clear the aims of possible military action. If the goal is to pressure Iran to make concessions in nuclear negotiations, it’s not clear whether limited strikes will work. If the goal is to remove Iran’s leaders, that will likely commit the US to a more massive, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign of planning for what The status of Iran’s nuclear program is another mystery. Trump earlier said American strikes “obliterated” it. Now, dismantling whatever remains of the program appears to be back on the administration’s agenda. IAEA inspectors have not been allowed to inspect those sites and verify what remains.
There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to those concerns.