I’m Not Surprised

We’re told in a report from The Times Of Israel that Iran isn’t budging on ending its nuclear program, something I totally expected:

Iran told the United States in talks last week it was ready to accept some limits on its uranium enrichment but needed watertight guarantees US President Donald Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact, a senior Iranian official said on Friday. He also vowed that Iran would never agree to dismantle its centrifuges for enriching uranium.

First they said they weren’t going to meet, then they agreed to meet but not have direct talks. And now they are all but saying the talks are worthless, although they remain upbeat about:

Iran and the United States are set to hold a second round of talks on Saturday in Rome, a week after a first round of negotiations in Oman, which both sides described as positive.

US President Trump still says that Iran can’t have nuclear weapons and is pretty strong on that stance:

Trump, meanwhile, reiterated Friday that he would not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons.

“With Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. And if they have a nuclear weapon, you’ll all be very unhappy. You’ll all be very unhappy because your life will be in great danger,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before his event was drawn to an abrupt close when someone in the room had a medical issue.

He has always maintained a hard line with the Iranians:

Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.

Once the 2015 deal ended Iran has gone ahead with its nuclear ambitions which they want to use against Israel. According to one source, the clock is ticking as well:

In the intervening years, Tehran has steadily overstepped the 2015 agreement’s limits on its nuclear program, designed to make it harder to develop an atomic bomb.

Iran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, says it does not seek nuclear weapons, but enriches uranium to a level far beyond what is necessary for a civilian nuclear program and a short step away from weapons-grade. On Thursday, while visiting Tehran, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned that the US and Iran “don’t have much time” to ink a deal.

The previous US administration wasn’t able to get a deal either, at least one that would make Iran happy:

Former US President Joe Biden, whose administration unsuccessfully tried to reinstate the 2015 pact, was not able to meet Tehran’s demand for guarantees that no future US administration would renege on it.

Not Close At All

Both sides are still talking but the gaps in their stands are not getting smaller:

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.

Iran, for its part, has positions they won’t compromise on:

Tehran’s red lines “mandated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei” could not be compromised in the talks, the official told Reuters, describing Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity.

He said those red lines meant Iran would never agree to dismantle its centrifuges for enriching uranium, halt enrichment altogether, or reduce the amount of enriched uranium it stores to a level below the level it agreed in the 2015 deal that Trump abandoned.

It would also not negotiate over its missile program, which Tehran views as outside the scope of any nuclear deal.

He stated that Iran thought the US had agreed on these issues going into the talks:

“Iran understood in indirect talks in Oman that Washington doesn’t want Iran to stop all nuclear activities, and this can be a common ground for Iran and the US to start a fair negotiation,” the source said.

Some think the US itself caused the confusion:

Top US negotiator Steve Witkoff, since overseeing the first round of negotiations last Saturday, has publicly set out contradictory positions, first appearing to indicate the US would seek to limit rather than destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and then hardening his stance the next day to say to say any deal would require Iran to stop enrichment altogether.

Iran however would prefer to work with the United Nations to get an agreement:

Tehran has said that it is ready to work with the UN nuclear agency, which it sees as “the only acceptable body in this process,” to provide assurances that its nuclear work is peaceful, according to the source.

A plan was offered to the US and was thought to be well received which surprised the Iranians:

According to dissident Iranian news outlet Iran International, citing three diplomatic sources, Tehran proposed during last week’s talks a three-stage deal that would cap its uranium enrichment to the same levels agreed to in the abandoned 2015 deal in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions.

Witkoff was said to have surprised the Iranian delegation by welcoming the offer.

So what are we to make of all this? I may sound like a broken record on this, but the only way the nuclear program will be dealt with is by destroying it. Why Trump thinks negotiating a deal where Iran will give them up is beyond me and is probably only happening because people in his cabinet are pushing for it first. Politically it does make sense since any military action taken will only be after Iran gives them no choice. Trump can maintain his peace not war mantra going forward but also be seen as still having the firm hand his supporters elected him to have. But I could also be just making things up as I don’t have intimate insights into his thinking. But what I do have is understanding of Bible prophecy and I know that Iran, formerly known as Persia, is a key player in the end times. In my view, Iran’s nuclear program provides the reason for Israel engaging them and then provides the logic for them joining with Russia and others to attack Israel as perhaps a way for revenge and restore their status with the Muslim world. We shall see.