Trump: Iran Must Return to the Negotiation Table

On Wednesday, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, emphasized in a press conference that Iran will ultimately have to negotiate for a new agreement with the U.S. Referring to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA, on May 8, he stated, "No country has changed as much as Iran in the last six months. Since I withdrew from that very, very bad deal, why didn’t they include Yemen and Syria in this agreement? Why? Because they believed those issues were too complicated." Trump has repeatedly criticized the JCPOA, claiming that the nuclear agreement neither serves his country's national interests nor prevents Iran from ultimately acquiring nuclear weapons or from issues like "supporting terrorism," "destabilizing activities," or developing the Islamic Republic's missile program. On the other hand, the three European countries involved in the nuclear agreement with Iran assert that the JCPOA has allowed Iran's nuclear program to be significantly verified and has blocked the path to developing nuclear weapons, and that this agreement could serve as a basis for negotiations regarding Iran's missile program and regional activities. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, sanctions against Iran were reinstated. So far, one phase of U.S. sanctions has been implemented, and the second phase, which includes oil sanctions, is set to take effect on November 4. Since the U.S. exited the nuclear agreement with Iran, the value of Iran's national currency has sharply fallen against various foreign currencies, with the price of each U.S. dollar reaching 19,000 tomans, compared to 3,800 tomans in October of last year. Regarding a new agreement with Iran, Trump responded to a question about the cooperation of world leaders for a new deal with Iran by saying, "It doesn’t matter what world leaders think about Iran. The Iranians will eventually come to me, and we will have a good deal. Maybe not. But they are suffering a lot right now. They are facing riots in every city, much broader than the Green Movement (in 2009) during Barack Obama’s presidency. But Barack Obama stood with the Iranian government, not with the Iranian people. Maybe if he had sided with the people, we would have a different Iran now." Trump reiterated, "But I stand with the Iranian people." He further pointed to the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran, stating, "Inflation in Iran is rising rapidly. Their money has become worthless. Everything is going wrong. There are riots in the streets. They can’t buy bread. The situation is catastrophic." He added, "At some point, they will come back and say, can we do something? All I want is very simple: that they don’t have nuclear weapons. Is that a big request? I want them to have a great economy. I’m interested in them selling as much oil as they can because I’m not happy with OPEC." The U.S. President stressed, "Iran must come back (to negotiate), and they have to talk. I’m not doing this from a position of strength or weakness; they will ultimately have to come back (to the negotiation table). Look, companies are leaving Iran left and right. Mercedes-Benz has also left Iran. They don’t want to work with Iran. Why should they choose between Iran and the U.S.?" While Trump is calling for negotiations regarding a new agreement with Iran, Iranian officials have rejected any negotiations about a new agreement. In this context, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stated in a press conference in New York on Wednesday that the U.S. made a "mistake" by withdrawing from the JCPOA and that one day it will return to this agreement. In response to the question of whether Tehran would reduce its ballistic missile program if the U.S. respects the JCPOA, he said, "In the nuclear agreement, there is no such thing as missiles. It was clear from the beginning what we were discussing. If someone wants to break their commitment, let them do so; there’s no need for all this excuse-making. The nuclear agreement is very clear. Resolution 2231 is very clear." The U.S. wants to negotiate about the future of Iran's nuclear program after the JCPOA ends, its missile program, and Iran's regional activities. Meanwhile, Iranian officials say Tehran will not negotiate at all about the JCPOA and its missile program.