[🇮🇷] Iran & the USA Relationship

[Bilal9]

Joe ka no idea, was/is a commie and even ran for some sort of office. Nilgai is Tamild.

@Bilal9 probably knows better.

I don't think he is Christian, he is Hindu Brahmin person - highly educated. I respect him a lot.

All highly educated Bengali folks are of a socialist bent, as are educated Tam-Brahms, as are educated EU citizens. Education brings conscience, to level the playing field, and to give the have-nots in society a fair break in life. I feel the same way.

In any case, why does it matter?

 

[Bilal9]

His family moved from east Pak, what is now BD. Ancestral village Barishaal, hence Doc's nickname for him, the Barishaal Bomber

If he moved to another country, does it make him a non-Bengali? He will always remain an honored Bengali older brother to me. BTW the literacy rate in Barisaal is off the charts. The highest educated people in Bangladesh. Bangladeshis respect that fact - a lot.

 

[Saif]

Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks

Iran’s top diplomat has dismissed direct negotiations with the United States as pointless, his office said Sunday, after US president Donald Trump said he preferred face-to-face talks over its nuclear programme...

www.newagebd.net

Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 06 April, 2025, 22:33

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. | AFP photo

Iran’s top diplomat has dismissed direct negotiations with the United States as pointless, his office said Sunday, after US president Donald Trump said he preferred face-to-face talks over its nuclear programme.

Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month calling for negotiations but warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

On Thursday, the US president said he favoured ‘direct talks’, arguing they were ‘faster’ and offered a better understanding than going through intermediaries.

But Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said direct talks made no sense with a country ‘that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials’.

‘We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations,’ he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his ministry.

‘Iran keeps itself prepared for all possible or probable events, and just as it is serious in diplomacy and negotiations, it will also be decisive and serious in defending its national interests and sovereignty.’

On Saturday, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the United States on an ‘equal footing’.

He also questioned Washington’s sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying ‘if you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?’

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with some regional countries like Oman playing a mediating role between the two sides.

Trump’s letter was delivered to Iran via the United Arab Emirates, and Tehran responded at the end of March via the Sultanate of Oman.

On Sunday, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said Iran’s response stressed that ‘we seek peace in the region’.

‘We are not the ones who start wars, but we will respond to any threat with all our might,’ he said of the content of Iran’s response.

Western countries, led by the United States, have for decades accused Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran rejects the allegation and maintains that its nuclear activities exist solely for civilian purposes.

In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely the United States, France, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, to limit its nuclear activities.

The 2015 agreement — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, the United States withdrew from the agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Iran.

A year later, Iran began rolling back on its commitments under the agreement and accelerated its nuclear programme.

On Monday, Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei, warned that while Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, it would ‘have no choice but to do so’ in the event of an attack against it.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/news/trump-announces-direct-nuclear-talks-iran-3866121

Trump announces direct nuclear talks with Iran

Donald Trump answers a reporters question during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Hours later Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Saturday in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," he added. "The ball is in America's court."

Netanyahu meanwhile said the United States and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran's ally Hamas has collapsed.

"We're dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel's bid to avoid US tariffs.

Trump did not say where the talks would take place, but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at "almost the highest level."

Trump's stunning announcement came a day after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran's going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Tuesday in Moscow.

Trump's revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade "barriers."

His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting.

- Gaza talks -

Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," he said.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the United States to "control" the Gaza Strip, which he described as a "great piece of real estate." He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Their planned press conference was canceled at short notice without explanation -- an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office.

The Israeli premier's visit is his second to Washington since Trump's return to power, and comes at short notice -- just days after the president slapped a 17 percent tariff on Israel in his "Liberation Day" announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday.​

 

[Saif]

Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill

Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran’s long-time foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday...

www.newagebd.net

Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 08 April, 2025, 22:38

Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran’s long-time foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s principal aim remained the lifting of sweeping US sanctions. Their reimposition by President Donald Trump in 2018 has dealt a heavy blow to the Iranian economy.

Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would open talks with Iran during a White House meeting on Monday with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country is an arch foe of Tehran.

Trump said the talks would be ‘direct’ but Araghchi insisted his negotiations with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday would be ‘indirect’.

‘We will not accept any other form of negotiation,’ Araghchi told official media. ‘The format of the negotiations is not the most important thing in my view. What really counts is the effectiveness or otherwise of the talks.

‘If the other side shows enough of the necessary willingess, a deal can be found. The ball is in America’s court.’

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in ‘great danger’ if the talks failed.

‘We’re dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we’re dealing with them directly,’ Trump told reporters.

Trump’s announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country’s nuclear activities, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

‘I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran’s going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ he said.

In an interview with US network NBC late last month. Trump went further. ‘If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,’ he said.

China and Russia held consultations with Iran in Moscow on Tuesday, after which the Kremlin welcomed the planned talks.

Key Iranian ally Russia welcomed the prospect of negotiations for a new nuclear accord to replace the deal with major powers that was unilaterally abandoned by Trump in 2018.

‘We know that certain contacts — direct and indirect — are planned in Oman. And, of course, this can only be welcomed because it can lead to de-escalation of tensions around Iran,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Moscow ‘absolutely’ supported the initiative.

China called on the United States to ‘stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure’ after Trump threatened Iran with bombing if it fails to agree a deal.

‘As the country that unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iran nuclear issue and caused the current situation, the United States should demonstrate political sincerity and mutual respect,’ its foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

Washington should ‘participate in dialogue and consultation, and at the same time stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure’, Lin added.

The Israeli prime minister, whose government has also threatened military action against Iran to prevent it developing a nuclear weapon, held talks with Witkoff as well as Trump on Monday.

Netanyahu was a bitter opponent of the 2015 agreement between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States which Trump later abandoned.

That deal saw Iran receive relief from international sanctions in return for restrictions on its nuclear activities overseen by the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Trump’s withdrawal from the deal was followed by an Iranian decision one year later to stop complying with its own obligations under the deal.

The result has been that Iran has built up large stocks of highly enriched uranium that leave it a short step from weapons grade.

In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent. Weapons grade is around 90 per cent.​