# Iran declines invitation to call Trump about Trump's concerns: Trump the statesman, part 2? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 10, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786 "2019-05-10T16:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/261 "2019-07-01T16:18:21Z")
wtf duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/262 "2019-07-03T10:12:09Z")
> **[Rouhani: Iran will enrich uranium to 'any amount we want'](https://apnews.com/article/72cd54bb267f497697c2d54f207462ad)** > > TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's president warned that Tehran will increase its enrichment of uranium to "any amount that we want" beginning on Sunday, putting further pressure on European nations to save its faltering nuclear deal and offer a way around... > [@](#): > > “In any amount that we want, any amount that is required, we will take over 3.67,” Rouhani said. > > “Our advice to Europe and the United States is to go back to logic and to the negotiating table,” Rouhani added. “Go back to understanding, to respecting the law and resolutions of the U.N. Security Council. Under those conditions, all of us can abide by the nuclear deal.” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/263 "2019-07-03T11:12:13Z")
I’ve said it before here, and here it is again. Leave it to Trump to create a conflict with Iran in which Iran comes across as the good guy. Only you, Donnie, only you. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/264 "2019-07-03T11:13:39Z")
Iran has no reason to cooperate. From their perspective, they’re already at war. I don’t know why people can’t understand how regimes can interpret extreme economic sanctions and embargoes as acts of war when our own country was attacked by Japan, which pushed us into the largest war in human history, over an embargo. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/265 "2019-07-03T11:24:49Z")
If Trump plays his cards right, he can be known as the POTUS who let North Korea AND Iran develop nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/266 "2019-07-03T11:47:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If Trump plays his cards right, he can be known as the POTUS who let North Korea AND Iran develop nuclear weapons. I think that will ultimately be his legacy, which puts him in political alignment with some of the idiotic vagabonding anti-American pseudo-intellects I used to occasionally run into in hostels when I was traveling the globe trying to find myself in my wayward youth. _“Ye know, mate, maybe the best solution for global peace is for all countries to have nukes.”_:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/267 "2019-07-03T14:56:01Z")
Well, this will be a good follow-up to your last sentence, **asahi** : [Putin signs bill suspending participation in nuclear treaty](https://apnews.com/055efbe3e0794a1c80c0c2c81e9db8ff) > [@](#): > > Putin’s decree released on Wednesday formalizes Russia’s departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States following Washington’s withdrawal from the pact. > > The U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the INF in February, setting the stage for it to terminate in six months unless Moscow returns to compliance. Russia has denied any breaches, and accused the U.S. of violating the pact. Moscow followed Washington’s example in February, also suspending its obligations under the treaty. > > Putin has warned the U.S. against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying that Russia will retaliate by fielding new fast weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets. So thanks to the US, the nuclear arms race is back on. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/268 "2019-07-03T15:01:50Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If Trump plays his cards right, he can be known as the POTUS who let North Korea AND Iran develop nuclear weapons. Is there some kind of ANTI- Nobel Peace Prize? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/269 "2019-07-03T15:04:16Z")
Now is not the time to take our American eyes off of the important issues facing us. Do you know that there are Central Americans who are coming across our southern border to find employment by American companies picking our vegetables? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/270 "2019-07-03T15:34:06Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Is there some kind of ANTI- Nobel Peace Prize? We could make one. I propose the “LeBon Warmonger Prize” as a name. We can shorten it to LeBon Warmonger in popular media and refer to winners that way, i.e. LeBon Warmonger Donald Trump, etc. Once the brand is established, I’d expect “LeBon” to even get dropped occasionally, especially in casual conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/271 "2019-07-04T22:30:52Z")
[Iranian supertanker stopped in Gibraltar](https://apnews.com/38c93c0accde4bf4960365e341b91c93) at the request of the US. Now Spain is maybe mad at the UK. > [@](#): > > Authorities in Gibraltar said they intercepted an Iranian supertanker Thursday that was believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Tehran’s crude oil to war-ravaged Syria. > > A senior Spanish official said the operation was requested by the United States. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called the incident “an illegal seizure of an Iranian oil tanker.” > > Gibraltar port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by Britain’s Royal Marines, boarded the Grace 1 early Thursday, authorities on the British overseas territory at the tip of Spain said in a statement. > [@](#): > > Spain’s caretaker foreign minister, Josep Borrell, said the tanker was stopped by British authorities after a request from the United States. > [@](#): > > U.S. national security adviser John Bolton tweeted that the ship’s seizure was “excellent news.” > [@](#): > > In Madrid, Borrell told reporters that Spain was assessing the implications of the operation because the detention took place in waters it considers its own. > > Britain insists Gibraltar is part of the United Kingdom but Spain argues that it is not, and the tanker operation risks offending the Spanish. > > “We’re looking into how this (operation) affects our sovereignty,” said Borrell, who was nominated earlier this week to become the EU’s foreign policy chief. Stellar foreign policy and deft diplomacy are _not_ this administrations strong points IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/272 "2019-07-05T09:58:22Z")
To be fair, Spain is mad at the UK about \*everything \*regarding Gibraltar. Regardless of the validity of any particular complaint, this is just their latest excuse to raise the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/273 "2019-07-05T14:35:29Z")
Acknowledged, but this particular exacerbation’s root cause is the US so it’s noteworthy IMO. I’m guessing that even tho he’s retired his words carry weight in Iranian society and that’s why [we’re hearing about](https://apnews.com/d67cb50090fe4f55bad6dc0e727440e9) > [@](#): > > A former leader of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said Friday that the Islamic Republic should consider seizing a British oil tanker in response to authorities detaining an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar. > > The comments by Mohsen Rezaei came amid heightened tensions over Iran’s unraveling 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers, which the U.S. withdrew from last year. > > “If England does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the duty … (of Iran) is to respond and seize one English oil tanker,” he said in a tweet. > [@](#): > > Rezaei led the Guard during Iran’s 1980s “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf targeting the oil trade of the U.S. and its Arab allies. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/274 "2019-07-05T20:27:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Acknowledged, but this particular exacerbation’s root cause is the US so it’s noteworthy IMO. > > I’m guessing that even tho he’s retired his words carry weight in Iranian society and that’s why [we’re hearing about](https://apnews.com/d67cb50090fe4f55bad6dc0e727440e9) Ravenman wrote about escalation earlier and I disagreed with some of what he wrote; however, perhaps one area where I would agree is that generally speaking, yes, he’s correct in arguing that Iran also has a responsibility to avoid war if and where they can do so without laying prostrate and sacrificing their sovereignty. I think it’s understandable that Iran perceives the US as a danger to its regime, which is not to say that I like their regime or agree with their responses to date, only that I understand some of them. With that disclaimer out of the way, the most important obligation Iran has is to offer the US (i.e. Trump) a face-saving way back to the negotiating table. I expect a certain amount of trash talk, but on the side they should be making it clear that they’re willing to de-escalate if the US is willing to do so in kind. I’ve already expressed my fears about our administration. My fear with Iran is that they will assume that Trump will offer no concessions and seek to humiliate Trump, which would be a grave mistake on their part, IMO. On the reverse side of that coin, I hope that if/when Iran does offer diplomacy, Trump’s diplomatic team can recognize that overture when they see it. I’m not at all confident that they can. To the Trump hammer, everything looks like a nail that’s sticking out. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/275 "2019-07-05T22:03:52Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > My fear with Iran is that they will assume that Trump will offer no concessions and seek to humiliate Trump, which would be a grave mistake on their part, IMO. If I’m gauging this correctly, Iran will not seek to humiliate Trump unless he opens the door for it unwittingly, and even then I think they’ll show restraint at this point. Poking is gonna happen, but not provoking. They are going to be very low-key simmer about this until they have a weapon assembled; then they’ll just tell Trump to go fuck himself, IMO. And I think they’ll have a nuclear weapon assembled before the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/276 "2019-07-06T10:34:26Z")
[Here we go.](https://apnews.com/522dfeba45224178afc9c23324fcc80e) > [@](#): > > A top aide to Iran’s supreme leader says the Islamic Republic is ready to enrich uranium beyond the level set by Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal, just ahead of a deadline it set Sunday for Europe to offer new terms to the accord. > > A video message by Ali Akbar Velayati included him saying that “Americans directly and Europeans indirectly violated the deal,” part of Tehran’s hardening tone with Europe. European parties to the deal have yet to offer a way for Iran to avoid the sweeping economic sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump since he pulled the U.S. out of the accord a year ago, especially those targeting its crucial oil sales. > [@](#): > > In the video, available Saturday on a website for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Velayati said that increasing enrichment closers to weapons-grade levels was “unanimously agreed upon by every component of the establishment.” > > “We will show reaction exponentially as much as they violate it. We reduce our commitments as much as they reduce it,” said Velayati, Khamenei’s adviser on international affairs. “If they go back to fulfilling their commitments, we will do so as well.” > [@](#): > > It remains unclear to what level Iran will choose to up its uranium enrichment. However, Velayati in his remarks made reference to 5% enrichment. > > “For Bushehr nuclear reactor we need 5% of enrichment and it is a completely peaceful goal,” he said. Bushehr, Iran’s only nuclear power plant, is now running on imported fuel from Russia that’s closely monitored by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency. This part kind of cracked me up: > [@](#): > > The U.S. said its ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Jackie Wolcott, had requested a special meeting of the IAEA to discuss its “latest, concerning report on the Iran regime’s nuclear program.” That meeting is planned for Wednesday. > > Iran’s diplomatic mission to Vienna, where the IAEA is based, called the U.S. move “a sad irony” as America had unilaterally withdrawn from the deal a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/277 "2019-07-06T11:33:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Here we go.](https://apnews.com/522dfeba45224178afc9c23324fcc80e)This part kind of cracked me up: I think that going forward, Iran’s position will be that it will keep the enriched uranium and whatever else it has developed since the end of sanctions and the negotiating point will be that it will cease to go forward if Trump is willing to negotiate and get back to the framework. But it’s not going backwards – this is exactly what North Korea has done with Trump. Just as Korea is not going to de-nuke itself, Iran is not going to reverse and go back to where things were with Obama. I think American negotiators - not just in Trump’s administration but in others as well - seem to fundamentally not understand how this kind of negotiation process works. In short, the diplomatic lesson for us is this: When you fuck someone on a deal, there’s a consequence for it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/278 "2019-07-06T11:35:30Z")
I agree Iran will not step backwards. They might step back, but not backwards. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/279 "2019-07-06T12:06:05Z")
Trump isn’t the only American president who has tried to overplay the military strength card in handling foreign adversaries, but he has overplayed it more than any other in recent memory. Not a coincidence that the guy whispering in Trump’s ear (Bolton) was part of the second worst offending administration in this regard (GW Bush). When you take away diplomacy and use coercion as your primary negotiating tool, then adversaries respond hyper-defensively. You can’t use military diplomacy unless you’re either bringing a diplomatic component to accompany military force to the table (which is what Obama did with Iran and Bill Clinton did with North Korea), or unless you can live with the consequences of militarism (GWB didn’t do so well). What Trump’s administration may be starting to reckon with is that while Iran’s position is desperate, they’re not going to play the waiting game. They’re not going to just wait it out and get weaker in the process; they’re in a position to cause a royal mess and they’re going to start doing just that unless we back off. In a war with Iran, what’s certain is that Iran would probably make the global economy suffer. What’s less certain is when their regime would fall. And even if it falls, the economic disruption could (and probably would) last long after the regime is vanquished. This is what probably just dawned on John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. Or maybe it didn’t, but someone in the White House dared to ask the right kinds of questions and they didn’t have the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786/280 "2019-07-06T21:21:26Z")
[Macron trying to work a miracle](https://apnews.com/d72d880f76a14caf8c6e18b74d0a99a3): > [@](#): > > Macron’s office said in a statement that the French leader spoke for more than an hour Saturday with Iranian President Hassan Rohani amid a standoff between Tehran and the U.S. > > Macron expressed “strong concern about new weakening” of the 2015 accord aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. > > He said he would “explore between now and July 15 resumed dialogue among all parties.” The statement didn’t elaborate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iran-declines-invitation-to-call-trump-about-trumps-concerns-trump-the-statesman-part-2/833786.md?page=15)