A nuclear-free Iran: three-way negotiations
The United States and Iran met again this Saturday in Rome, in a new round of talks that began on April 10 in Oman. Washington is seeking to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and the lifting of sanctions over its nuclear program. The high-level meetings between the two countries will continue next week under the close supervision of Israel, which will undoubtedly have the final say on the agreements.
It must be said that Israel has no interest in reaching an agreement with Iran, regardless of its nature. It wants to maintain a situation of permanent confrontation with Tehran, because this will draw into its sphere of influence the Arab countries of the region that see Tehran as a danger to their stability.
A first agreement was signed between Iran and the Barack Obama administration in 2015. This pact was scrupulously respected until President Donald Trump unilaterally voided it in 2018, or rather, at Israel's request. In 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu even traveled to Capitol Hill to deliver an aggressive speech against Obama's agreement, a speech that was also directed at the Democratic president. The prime minister's opposition hasn't wavered since then. His interests remain the same.
At that time, a decade ago, Netanyahu said that Iran was less than a year away from building an atomic bomb, and insisted that this was the Iranians' goal. Ten years have passed, Tehran still does not have the bomb, and Iranian leaders insist that they have no interest and, in fact, could have built one if they had wanted to.
It is clear that Israel is not interested in calm in the region, unless that calm comes from countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or the UAE—that is, from countries that accept one. status quo similar to what Israel seeks, without any possibility of creating a Palestinian state and without any whim of political Islam.
Iran, and the Shiites in general, have an idea of justice that is not shared by either the State of Israel or the "moderate" countries in the region. In reality, what is at stake are two antagonistic visions of the Middle East and the world in general. The United States supports its ally even when Israel's vision goes against its interests. We saw a case in point just a few weeks ago. Adam Boehler, an American Jew who was tasked by Trump with successfully securing the release of the American hostages in Gaza, secretly negotiated directly with Hamas, an action that, when it became known, resulted in his swift dismissal.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, tasked with negotiating with Iran, has made a series of comments this week that reveal a certain willingness to reach an agreement on the nuclear program, but for now, the negotiations have only just begun, and Israel has not laid all its cards on the table.
The fall of the Iranian regime that Netanyahu seeks may not be a good idea for the region, especially given that a collapse of the Islamic Republic would open up unpredictable instability that would surely extend beyond the Middle East. US and Iranian negotiators have said that a deal is possible soon, but that optimism is not guaranteed, especially since Israel can abort it again, as it did with the Obama administration's pact.
