Nuclear Deal One senior Western official disagreed with the notion that the U.S. is alone on Iran, saying that the message relayed to Pompeo was that Europe agrees with the U.S. on most of its grievances but that escalation should be avoided at all costs. The official said European capitals are leaning heavily on Tehran to de-escalate.
Looming over U.S.-European ties is continuing frustration over Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement that most nations say was helping to keep Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in check. Frustrated with the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions, Iranian officials this month gave European partners 60 days to deliver on promises of economic benefits from staying in the accord, or risk them disavowing some of its key provisions.
As Middle East tensions mounted, Trump began signaling that he’s open to talks. On Wednesday Iranian Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar told Bloomberg News that Tehran would be willing negotiate if the U.S. goes back to the 2015 deal. But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has ruled out talks for now, saying “negotiations are like a poison as long as the U.S. remains the same way it is.”
In trying to reel in talk of imminent conflict, Trump suggested that uncertainty over U.S. intentions was part of his plan, saying on Twitter that “With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on!” He later called any Iranian confusion “a good thing.”
That approach prompted a rebuke by Iran’s Zarif, who likes referring to Netanyahu and U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton as part of a “B-team” fomenting war.
“With the #B_Team doing one thing & @realDonaldTrump saying another thing, it is apparently the U.S. that ‘doesn’t know what to think,”’ Zarif wrote on Twitter.
— With assistance by Golnar Motevalli, and Alyza Sebenius
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