by Amir Taheri • Gatestone Institute • May 4, 2025
Judging by comments and leaks from the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff — although problems remain — things are going smoothly. Trump himself keeps saying that he expects “a good agreement” without spelling out what that means. The fact, however, is that so far nothing has happened. (AI generated image of Steve Witkoff meeting Abbas Araqchi)
- There is, of course, one non-judicial way to make sure a deal sticks: Remove the root causes of enmity. For example, let’s start by releasing the US hostages and make sure that no further hostages are taken during what remains of Trump’s term.
- Then join the rest of the world in the Financial Action Task Force accords against money laundering and funding terrorism. Iran is part of a blacklisted trio that includes North Korea and Myanmar.
For the past two weeks, I have been bombarded by questions from colleagues and “experts” from across the globe wondering how to assess the current round of talks between Tehran and the Trump administration in Washington.
The typical question is: what is going on?
Judging by comments and leaks from the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff — although problems remain — things are going smoothly. Trump himself keeps saying that he expects “a good agreement” without spelling out what that means.
Tehran pundits muse about an historic turnaround that would see the US investing over a trillion dollars in Iran while the regime is given the green light to continue merrily enriching the uranium it does not need. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian goes further by talking about “rebuilding the whole region in peace and with prosperity for all.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.