Two Proposals From Iran Over the Weekend
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Iran has offered serious proposals in the negotiations. Now there is another one (gift link, I think).
Iran has offered the United States a new proposal for negotiations that focuses on opening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. sea blockade on Iran as a way of ending the war and then tackling nuclear negotiations later, according to three Iranian officials.
The JCPOA negotiations in 2015 were focused only on the nuclear issue because it was too complex to address all the issues at once. The people who insisted on all issues being included were the ones who wanted to attack Iran. Now we have another issue, the Strait, which is of the utmost urgency.
The Trumpies are said to be studying the proposal.
“They have achieved none of their goals, and this is why they are asking for negotiations; we are now considering it,” Mr. Araghchi said to a Russian reporter on Monday, according to a video of the interview.
The White House response emphasized the nuclear program. Which was unmentioned in the early attacks and has only recently come to be Donald Trump’s major demand. Basically, Iran has stated in several ways, including remaining in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, that they will not build a nuclear weapon, but Trump wants a special statement with his brand on it. And even if the Iranians gave it to him, would he accept it?
In the proposal Iran delivered to Pakistan on Saturday, Iran had offered a five-year suspension of its uranium enrichment, followed by five years of very low grade civilian enrichment in labs. It would have diluted its stockpile and kept half of it at home under international inspectors while giving the other half to Russia, an ally.
But the United States rejected the offer. Mr. Trump on Saturday said Iranians had given him a response that was “not good enough.”
The very effective negotiating response of “Bring me a rock.” Hence the proposal that one issue be negotiated at a time.
On Monday, 261 Iranian lawmakers from various political factions signed a statement in support of the negotiating team, led by Parliament Speaker Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, to signal unity. But five lawmakers from the ultra hard-line faction, opposed to any concessions with Washington, refused to sign.
Presumably that is in response to Trump’s claims that Iran can’t get its act together. It looks like the Jared and Steve show is still the US lineup. I guess it’s against diplomatic protocol for Iran to ask for different negotiators, but these are the two that were “negotiating” when the US struck Iran. There still seems to be no attempt to bring in anyone with more than a middle-school background in nuclear or any other issues.
Iran is hurting from the blockade too and presumably would like to get an agreement, hence the proposals. The current situation is doing nobody any good. It’s even prolonging Trump’s humiliation.