Rome – Under a partially clear skies in the Italian capital, the Republican US president envoy Steve Witkov headed to Omani’s diplomatic facilities to begin indirect consultations with the Iranians. But for his fellow democratic Americans, he returned to the United States, but it would not have been dark on April 19th.
For officials sitting at the table negotiating with Iran in 2015 and watching the JCPOA, the fruit of two years of hard work, it is hard to bear to see this president mark the end of a task force in his name, seeing it unravel under Donald Trump just three years later. After all, Trump is already dressed in the Ukrainian saga and is now aiming to end the war that began under the Democratic administration. Another victory for the original real estate giant would only do good for the Republicans in the 2028 presidential election, and would be another blemish stain about democratic history.
Sources told the Tehran Times that while the possibility of a new agreement between Iran and the US under a second Trump term is uncertain, Democrats are already looking for ways to dimble the outlook for such a deal. Rather than oppose it completely, Democrats seem to be trying to derail the talks that have been previously said to be constructive.
In one such attempt, former Secretary of State and JCPOA negotiator John Kelly during the Obama administration proposed that Trump should try to cross Iran’s red line, calling for a complete demolition of Iran’s nuclear program and a cap on its missile and drone capabilities. In an opinion article published by the Wall Street Journal, Kelly argued that “Tehran has put himself back on the corner,” and therefore Trump could pressure Iran to make further concessions.
Sources previously told the Tehran Times that after Iran told the Tehran Times in March that it only agreed to appear in indirect talks with the United States. So far, during discussions, Americans have not even mentioned the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program. It is almost certain that Iran will close consultations if any of those subjects are raised.
The Democrats also portray Iranians as dangerous and kidney acids. Wendy Sherman, Kelly’s deputy who negotiated the JCPOA directly with Araghchi in the 2010s, tried to portray him as Witkov’s horrifying enemy. “Araguchi is a very tough and intelligent person. He speaks English fluently and knows all the technical details, so Witkov faces tough competitors,” she told the American media before the first round of indirect talks.
Before sitting with Trump, Tehran engaged in multiple talks with the Biden administration to revive the JCPOA. However, Washington left the negotiation table when the parties approached the agreement in 2022, when Iran convulsed in a deadly riot, according to previous remarks by permanent Russian representatives who spoke to Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov’s Tehran Times. Urinov was directly involved in the revival consultations.
By Mona Hojat Ansari