Officials in Iran are considering negotiating and reconciling with incoming President Donald Trump instead of acting adversarially as they have previously been, according to The New York Times.
Iran has long held disdain for Trump, having conducted cyberwarfare operations against his presidential campaign and working through various individuals to try to assassinate him in recent years. Now that Trump has locked in a second term, some Iranian officials are questioning whether it is now the best way forward to deal with Trump diplomatically, according to five officials who spoke to NYT. That sentiment is being shared in Iranian media and among former officials.
“Do not lose this historic opportunity for change in Iran-U.S. relations,” Hamid Aboutalebi, former political adviser to Iran’s government and established politician, wrote in an op-ed, urging Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate Trump on his presidential win, according to NYT.
To search for diplomatic solutions with Trump would represent a major shift in Tehran’s thinking. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, reimposed strict sanctions and assassinated its top general, Qasem Soleimani, in 2020.
In response, Iran has been targeting Trump and openly calling for violence against him. Even as recently as Friday, U.S. officials said that three individuals had been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, one of many such ploys that have been orchestrated or linked to Iran.
Trump’s election represents a new opportunity to mend U.S.-Iran relations, the five Iranian officials told NYT. The officials said that Trump is known for his deal-making and negotiating abilities, which could be beneficial for Iran going forward. Trump has also become the figurehead of the Republican Party, meaning that any deals made could have longer-term staying power.
The president-elect has also vowed to end the ongoing conflicts between Israel and terror networks in Gaza and Lebanon, which Iran approves of, the officials told the NYT.
Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s new president — described as more moderate than his hardliner predecessor — should “avoid past mistakes and assume a pragmatic and multidimensional policy,” reads a story from major Iranian news outlet Shargh, according to NYT.
Pezeshkian’s ability to deal with Trump will be limited by his power, even if he wants to work with the incoming U.S. president. In Iran, the supreme leader — Ali Khamenei — has ultimate authority over the country’s decisions, and Pezeshkian would have to run any decisions by Khamenei before they were made final. Khamenei has firmly come out against Trump and banned officials from negotiating with Trump’s team during his first term.
Iran’s future relationship with Trump will also depend on how Trump chooses to deal with Tehran. Trump has said that he wishes no ill for the country but that the U.S. would not allow the Islamic regime to build a nuclear weapon. On a more recent occasion, Trump suggested that Israel go after Iran and destroy the country’s nuclear facilities.
“Hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later,” Trump said during a campaign event in October.
But Trump “has no interest in regime change,” while also understanding that the country is “the chief driver of instability in the Middle East,” according to Brian Hook, former Trump policy adviser on Iran who now serves on the president-elect’s transition team.
Some Iranian officials feel that their previously held belief that a Democratic president would be more friendly to them than a Republican has vanished, according to NYT. And given that sanctions are already suffocating Iran’s economy, Tehran is running out of options — and dealing with Trump might be the best way forward.
“We do not want more sanctions and more instability. But at the same time, a comprehensive deal with Trump has to give us some wiggle room to save face domestically and justify it,” Rahman Ghahremanpour, a political analyst of Iran, told NYT. “That will be the big challenge.”
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