Donald Trump is truly caught between a rock and hard place, both of his own making, on conflict and possible war with Iran. He needed to tell his base in 2016 that everything President Obama ever accomplished was wrong and bad and dangerous, so when he found himself unexpectedly winning the election and living in the White House, he needed to save face and do something about all those things he said were bad…even if they weren’t.
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent but saying he was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues. https://t.co/8HGtRndeIU
— Ethan St. Pierre (@radicalguy) June 21, 2019
Now that he’s rescinded the nuclear deal made by the Obama administration with Iran despite a lack of any evidence that Iran had not remained in compliance, tensions are high. When an unmanned drone was sent into restricted Iranian airspace and was shot down, Trump prepared troops for retaliation. However, he has little public support for a war, and he’s left to deal with the balance between his warmongering presidential cabinet and outrage from the public.
On Thursday night, a strike was prepared, but called off at the last minute. Iranian officials tell Reuters that Trump warned them of the strike.
Reuters reports that:
‘News of the message, delivered through Oman overnight, came shortly after the New York Times said Trump had approved military strikes against Iran on Friday over the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but called them off at the last minute.’
With an utter lack of understanding of how foreign governments differ from the U.S., Trump demanded that talks be planned, although power to plan such talks fall on only one man in the Iranian government, Ayatollah Khamenei.
‘In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues…He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue.’
.@AOC minced no words in her comments on Iran and the Trump administration pic.twitter.com/WH6UBeFyF1
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 20, 2019
With a refusal to meet to discuss how the Iranian government can bow to Trump’s demands, Trump can legitimately say that he tried diplomacy but Iran rebuffed him. Whether or not his next step is to go to war with a country that was in compliance with a peace deal just over two years ago before Trump foolishly decided to rescind it remains to be seen.
Iranian officials say the Ayatollah is not open to talks with Trump at this time.
‘We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision. However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.’
.@realDonaldTrump has no ideology or strategy. He believes in chaos and impulse. He threatens and blusters without considering consequences. He cannot collaborate. He does not believe in collaboration. He cannot plan. That’s what we’re seeing with Trump and #Iran.
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) June 21, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
