The Iranian regime makes a public speech about a certain issue, but will act against what has been said. Iran’s stance cannot be gauged by what it says – its rhetoric is full of lies and deceptions.
This is part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy to negotiate, which is particularly pertinent now that it has no choice but to negotiate with America, Russia and the Gulf countries.
Iran misread the recent message from the Gulf countries that was delivered by Kuwait. The message was telling Iran that it was being given another chance to move towards the right track and avoid an Iranian-American war. The risk is ever-increasing and would hurt the entire Middle East.
Iran omits to see issues from any viewpoint other than its own and maintains that it has leverage over issues the Gulf countries would like to address and can therefore weaken its stance. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in complete political ignorance: “Gulf countries and not Iran must seize the opportunity which may be their last.”
This is not the only misunderstanding. The Iranian regime missed the mark regarding the resignation of President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn warned Iran not to test the resolve of President Trump and advised it not to play with fire. The Iranian regime rejoiced at the news of this resignation because they saw it as a triumph or a favour that was done for Iran. It did not occur to the Iranian regime that the resignation had nothing to do with US and Iran relations.
Taking the resignation as a victory, Iran missed the United States’ affirmations that it will no longer be lenient with Iran. Washington also reiterated that the Obama administration’s concessions and leniency in its treatment of Iran created nothing but a higher risk of terrorism and more national security issues.
Iran also forgot that even though Flynn left the administration, the US Secretary of Justice James Mattis remained at his post. He has been highly critical about the nuclear deal and the former administration’s treatment of Iran. The Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo has also been openly against the Iran nuclear deal. He said that he looked forward to “rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
The majority of legislators and cabinet members in the Trump administration agree with this so it would do Iran good to realise and understand this.
Although Russia, Israel and the Gulf countries have differing proposals on how to deal with Iran, the outcome is still the same.
