Trump Says No Iran Regime Change; Pompeo Says They're "Ready To Negotiate"

[Swordsmyth]

Earlier in the day President Trump reiterated during a Cabinet meeting, "We're not looking for regime change," adding "We want them out of Yemen."
Pompeo, seated next to Trump, said that Tehran is ready to negotiate over its missile program for the first time.


"For the first time … the Iranians said they are ready to negotiate on their missile program," said Pompeo.
Trump added "They’d like to talk, and we’ll see what happens," adding that Iran "can't have a nuclear weapon."

Earlier this week Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that negotiations between Washington and Tehran would be possible if the Trump administration eases sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Zarif told NBC Nightly News in an interview that aired Monday that they're "wide open" to talks if the sanctions are removed.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-16/trump-says-no-regime-change-iran-pompeo-says-theyre-ready-negotiate-missile-program

[Swordsmyth]

Oil Plunges As Iran Conflict Cools (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?536821-Oil-Plunges-As-Iran-Conflict-Cools)

[Libertea Party]

The Iranian regime would be so stupid if they didn't make a deal. He's the least interventionist Republican President to win office in recent memory. If the Democrats win the presidency they will probably keep whatever deal Trump makes.

If Trump wins again he'll say he tried and failed and the sanctions will stay and we (and other countries) will have naval ships and aircraft "enforcing" sanctions in the Persian Gulf and a "misunderstanding" will occur that will escalate out of control into a total war. Which is exactly what Bolton & Co are counting on.

[Zippyjuan]

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iran-ministers-missile-remarks-meant-challenge-us-64383362


Iran's top diplomat walks back from remark on missile talks

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that his country has no choice but to manufacture missiles for defense purposes — comments that reflect more backtracking after a remark by the top diplomat suggesting the missiles could be up for negotiations.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with NBC News that aired earlier this week that if the U.S. wants to talk about Iran's missiles, it needs "first to stop selling all these weapons, including missiles, to our region."

Iran has long rejected negotiations over its ballistic missile program, which remains under the control of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The foreign minister's remarks suggested a possible opening for talks as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington.

But the Iranian mission to the United Nations promptly called Zarif's suggestion purely "hypothetical" and said the Iranian missiles were "absolutely and under no condition negotiable with anyone or any country, period."

In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, tweeted late on Tuesday that Zarif's comments meant to challenge Washington and "threw the ball into the U.S. court while challenging America's arm sales" to its Mideast allies.

Zarif himself on Wednesday backpedaled on the missiles issue, saying Iran has no choice but to manufacture the missiles for its own defense.

He cited the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and tweeted that, "For 8 YEARS, Saddam (Hussein) showered our cities with missiles & bombs provided by East & West. Meanwhile, NO ONE sold Iran any means of defense. We had no choice but building our own. Now they complain."

"Instead of skirting the issue, US must end arms sales to Saddam's reincarnations," Zarif also said.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have sharply escalated since President Donald Trump unilaterally last year withdrew America from the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, sending its economy into freefall.

America has also rushed thousands of additional troops, an aircraft carrier, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets to the Mideast amid unspecified threats from Iran.

[Ender]

The Iranian regime would be so stupid if they didn't make a deal. He's the least interventionist Republican President to win office in recent memory. If the Democrats win the presidency they will probably keep whatever deal Trump makes.

If Trump wins again he'll say he tried and failed and the sanctions will stay and we (and other countries) will have naval ships and aircraft "enforcing" sanctions in the Persian Gulf and a "misunderstanding" will occur that will escalate out of control into a total war. Which is exactly what Bolton & Co are counting on.

So tell me why Trump left the Iranian Deal in the first place?

[Zippyjuan]

So tell me why Trump left the Iranian Deal in the first place?

Because it was done by Obama. Trump has strange negotiating tactics. Want a better deal? Don't try to improve on the existing one- get rid of it. Then there is no deal and no restrictions. Also makes people less willing to make a new deal with you if you aren't going to honor any existing ones. They can't trust you.

[Libertea Party]

In my opinion it was a mix of egoism (Only he makes the best deals) and pleasing his main contributors (https://lobelog.com/trumps-choice-of-bolton-satisfies-his-biggest-donor/).

I think Trump wants to cut a deal and market it as his accomplishment like he does with... everything. And the neocons took advantage of that weakness. Only his deals are "The Best of the Best"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1G4P_uzhIU

[Ender]

In my opinion it was a mix of egoism (Only he makes the best deals) and pleasing his main contributors (https://lobelog.com/trumps-choice-of-bolton-satisfies-his-biggest-donor/).

I think Trump wants to cut a deal an market it as his accomplishment like he does with... everything. And the neocons took advantage of that weakness. Only his deals are "The Best of the Best"


I agree totally about his ego.

Trump's rhetoric against the Iranian Deal during his campaign let me know exactly where he was on the political neocon scale.

[Zippyjuan]

The content is not important. What is important is that it now has Trump's name beside it. NAFTA2 (the USMCA treaty) was a similar deal- Trump calls the old one "the worst ever" and happily agrees to basically the same thing and declared victory.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/17/trump-iran-deal-obama-1417801


Trump’s better deal with Iran looks a lot like Obama’s

Trump has repeatedly urged Iran to negotiate, saying that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are his chief concern, talking points that experts say echo the 2015 deal.

Donald Trump has long trashed the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement as “the worst deal ever,” a “disaster” that didn’t cover nearly enough of the Islamist-led country’s nefarious behavior.

In recent weeks, however, the president has indicated that the Barack Obama-era deal might not be so bad after all.

Trump has repeatedly urged Iran to engage in negotiations with him, while saying that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are his chief concern — “A lot of progress has been made. And they'd like to talk,” Trump asserted Tuesday at the White House. His aides and allies, meanwhile, have recently suggested that Iran and other countries should follow the guidelines of a deal they themselves have shunned as worthless.

At times, analysts and former officials say, it sounds like Trump wants to strike a deal that essentially mirrors the agreement that his White House predecessor inked — even if he’d never be willing to admit it. Iranian officials seem willing to egg him on, saying they’ll talk so long as Trump lifts the sanctions he’s imposed on them and returns to the 2015 Iran deal. And as European ministers warn that the existing deal is nearly extinct, Trump may feel like he is backed into a corner and running out of options.

“Trump got rid of the Iran nuclear deal because it was Barack Obama’s agreement,” said Jarrett Blanc, a former State Department official who helped oversee the 2015 deal’s implementation. “If you were to present to Trump the same deal and call it Trump’s deal, he’d be thrilled.”

The administration’s confusing messaging is a result of warring between two major factions, U.S. officials say, with Trump in his own separate lane. The infighting has been deeply frustrating to those involved in the debate. “In the past, even when I personally disagreed with a policy, I could explain its logic,” a U.S. official said. “Now I can’t even do that.”


His main public demand is that Iran not build nuclear weapons. In return, Trump has offered to help revive Iran’s sanctions-battered economy.

To observers, that sounds suspiciously like the 2015 deal.

“They can't have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Tuesday. “We want to help them. We will be good to them. We will work with them. We will help them in any way we can. But they can't have a nuclear weapon."


Several European officials express astonishment at the audacity of the Trump administration demanding that Iran adhere to the deal when the U.S. the one who breached the agreement in the first place.