Friday, March 21, 2025
President Pezeshkian has startled everyone by stating publicly that he doesn’t agree with the ban on talks with the United States decreed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, but adding loyally that Khamenehi is the boss and has the final say in such matters.
Pezeshkian says he is committed to the position outlined by Khamenehi regarding negotiations with Washington even though his own view is different. “I believed that it would be better to engage in dialogue, but the Leader of the Revolution stated that we will not negotiate with the United States, and I also declared that we will not negotiate with the United States,” Pezeshkian said while speaking before the Majlis March 2. “However, we must find appropriate ways to resolve problems,” he said pointedly.
He reiterated that while he remains an advocate of dialogue, he will firmly adhere to the position set by the Leader. “I may hold a belief, but when the Leader of the Revolution determines a direction, we must adjust ourselves accordingly and find the right path within that framework,” he added. During a speech on February 7, Khamenehi said Iran was open to negotiations with all countries, adding, “The only exception here is America.” In succeeding speeches, Khamenehi has often and repeatedly blasted the idea of talking to the Americans about anything, dismissing Americans as devious and only planning to harm the Islamic Republic.
It is noteworthy that while he has repeatedly damned negotiations with the United States in the last two months, he has been totally silent on the issue of hejab enforcement, simply ignoring the fact that Pezeshkian has publicly proclaimed that he will not punish women for refusing to cover their hair. It is clear that Khamenehi wants to be the central focus when it comes to talks with Washington, but not when it comes to the dress code.
While no official living in Iran has proposed doing anything other than what Khamenehi says about negotiations, officials living outside Iran may have another idea. Iran’s mission to the UN made a posting on X March 9 that said Iran would consider negotiations with the US if the aim of the talks was to address concerns regarding any potential militarization of its nuclear program. That comment came a day after Khamenehi said Iran will not negotiate anything under US “bullying.” In the post on X, the mission said: “If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-a-vis any potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration.
However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program,… such negotiations will never take place.” While that may appear very reasonable to many, it is not what Khamenehi has been saying. The day before the UN mission statement, Khamenehi carped: “They [the Americans] are bringing up new demands that certainly will not be accepted by Iran, like our defense capabilities, missile range and international influence.”
Some US officials have indeed talked about demanding that Iran restrict the range of its missiles so they will never be able to reach the United States and addressing other non-nuclear topics. Trump has never spoken definitively about the range of topics in any Iran-US negotiations. But many Republicans complained when the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed in 2015 because it did not address anything but nuclear matters, ignoring Iran’s missiles, its interference in other Middle Eastern countries, its resort to terrorism and its domestic repres[1]sion. President Obama said the talks were intentionally limited to nuclear topics because a) that was the most important point of conflict and b) addressing other issues would likely make it impossible to reach agreement on any issue.
Khamenehi has been very firm and very consistent in his opposition to talks even though scores of Iranian officials not just Pezeshkian feel Iran must negotiate with Washington if it ever wants to get its economy in running order. The goal, in the view of many, is to make concessions in order to get US sanctions lifted and to get off the banking blacklist of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Many in the Islamic Republic even some hardliners view the JCPOA as a reasonable compromise that did not impose unreasonable restrictions on Iran.
But if the negotiations touch on other topics, the support for talks will likely narrow though there is no serious public debate on this within Iran. Trump signed a letter to Khamenehi (not Pezeshkian) on March 5 proposing talks. The text has not been released. The next day, Trump said in a television interview, “I hope you’re going to negotiate because, if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.”
That military threat has upset many in Iran. But one has to ask how serious Trump was. In his three presidential campaigns, Trump has consistently assailed his predecessors for fighting “endless wars” in the Middle East. It is one of the key issues with his loyal base.
While it is possible Trump would approve some air raids on Iranian nuclear installations, he is extremely unlikely to approve any invasion or use of ground troops. That would risk his standing with his supporters. Trump, who produced a book entitled “The Art of the Deal,” has always been clear that he wants to make “deals” with other countries.
In his first term, he wrote North Korea’s Kim Jong Un a letter that led to face to-face talks about North Korea’s nuclear program. In the end, however, Trump could not make a deal with Kim. Now, in his second term, Trump is trying for a nuclear deal with Iran, but so far hasn’t even got a photo op with Khamenehi. Much attention was given to a complaint from Qatar’s foreign minister that the destruction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant would poison the entire Persian Gulf with nuclear residue and deprive Qatar and the other regional states of drinkable water in just three days.
While this got much public attention, it is really a non-issue. Pentagon officials have made clear for years that the Bushehr plant is a purely civilian site and is not a potential target for any American air raid unlike the centrifuge centers at Fordo and Natanz.
