Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy, says Iran likely expected President Donald Trump to reject its seven-day proposal, since it largely repackages the framework agreed by Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in a June memorandum of understanding that Washington later tried to undermine.
Harrison says Iran’s goal was less about winning US approval than showing its own public, and the American public, a willingness to negotiate. He sees a possible concession in language suggesting the Strait of Hormuz could reopen without ships needing to coordinate with Tehran, a key sticking point that helped collapse the original deal, but says Iran is also working to secure a post-war toll structure with Gulf Arab states.
The US, Harrison says, believes it got a bad deal in June and is betting economic pressure will pay off given time, with Trump’s aides reportedly signalling a status quo until after the US midterm elections, followed possibly by military action against Iran.
Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera
Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/
Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile
#Iran #US #StraitOfHormuz #RossHarrison #MiddleEast #AlJazeeraEnglish
