‘New… Reasonable ‘ Iran Regime in Place and Talking
President Donald Trump suggested in a message Monday morning that a “NEW, MORE REASONABLE REGIME” has taken over Iran and is in talks with Washington – but warned he is prepared to “wipe out” Iran’s energy infrastructure if negotiations do not lead to a lasting deal.
Trump made the statement in a post on his website, Truth Social. What remains of the Iranian government after the elimination of “supreme leader”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly denied Trump’s claims that he was in conversation with the US government, while asserting that he had responded to US proposals, which would be impossible without a conversation.
It is unclear who runs the Iranian government, as the man who claims to have succeeded Khamenei, his son Mojtaba, has made no public appearances or given concrete indications of his responsibility. The discrepancy between the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s comments and those of the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also raised questions about Tehran’s ability to engage in talks.
In his statement Monday, Trump suggested that not only was America seeking regime change in Iran, but that regime change had already occurred.
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, MORE REASONABLE REGIME to end our military operations in Iran,” Trump wrote. He followed this comment with a threat.
“Great progress has been made but, if for some reason a deal is not reached soon, which will likely be the case, and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately “open for business”, he continued, “we will conclude our beautiful ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely wiping out all their power plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and maybe all the desalination plants!), which we deliberately do not have yet.” affected”.
“This will be in retaliation for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran massacred and killed during the former regime’s 47-year ‘reign of terror.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
Although the Iranian government did not respond directly to Trump’s statement as of press time, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed Monday that Iran had received and was considering negotiating messages from the United States. He called the proposals “unrealistic, illogical and excessive,” but his statement nevertheless confirmed the existence of some form of communication between those in power in Iran and the White House.
“Our position is clear. We are subject to military aggression. Therefore, all our efforts and all our forces are focused on our defense,” Baghaei said, according to a translation by Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya.
Pakistan’s government claimed last week that it was playing a mediating role in negotiations between America and Iran, handing Tehran a 15-point proposal from the White House. Shortly afterward, Trump claimed that Iran “gave us most of the points” and would “ask for a few other things.” The president also announced that he would not target any energy infrastructure in Iran until April 6, Easter Sunday.
“Talks are underway and, despite erroneous claims to the contrary from Fake News Media and others, they are going very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” the president said Thursday. He also claimed that Iran was “begging for a deal,” contrary to statements by Iranian state media.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, also told Italian media on Wednesday that discussions on war against Iran would take place in Pakistan as early as last weekend.
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“Three weeks of war which left its mark. Which caused a lot of damage and affected Iran’s economic, energy and productive infrastructure,” Grossi said. “It will make the conversation a little different.”
Pakistan hosted talks on the Iran war over the weekend, but reports indicate that neither Iran nor the United States participated. Instead, the event offered Pakistan an opportunity to discuss the war with Saudi, Turkish and Egyptian officials.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the aim of the talks is to “defuse tensions and encourage a negotiation process between Iran and the United States in order to avoid widespread chaos in the region.” The Pakistani government also added that although Iran did not participate directly, Pakistani officials had a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss Tehran’s position.
The bulk of Iran’s response to current U.S. hostilities has been to target its neighboring countries with missile and drone attacks, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Other countries bombed by Iran include Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, Azerbaijan and Cyprus. Iranian officials claimed the strikes targeted U.S. and Israeli sites, but in reality they targeted a variety of civilian sites, including energy facilities in many Gulf states.
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