Why Iran’s Supreme Chief Got here Round to Nuclear Talks With Trump

It was a carefully held, pressing assembly.

Iran was pondering a response to President Trump’s letter in search of nuclear negotiations. So the nation’s president, in addition to the heads of the judiciary and Parliament huddled with Iran’s supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, final month, in keeping with two senior Iranian officers aware of the assembly.

Mr. Khamenei had publicly and repeatedly banned participating with Washington, calling it unwise and idiotic. The senior officers, in an uncommon coordinated effort, urged him to alter course, stated the 2 officers, who requested to not be named to debate delicate points.

The message to Mr. Khamenei was blunt: Permit Tehran to barter with Washington, even immediately if obligatory, as a result of in any other case the Islamic Republic’s rule may very well be toppled.

The nation was already coping with an economic system in shambles, a foreign money plunging in opposition to the greenback and shortages of fuel, electrical energy and water. The specter of struggle with the USA and Israel was extraordinarily severe, the officers warned. If Iran refused talks or if the negotiations failed, the officers advised Mr. Khamenei, navy strikes on Iran’s two primary nuclear websites, Natanz and Fordow, can be inevitable.

Iran would then be pressured to retaliate, risking a wider struggle, a state of affairs that would additional harm the economic system and spark home unrest, together with protests and strikes, the officers stated. Combating on two fronts posed an existential menace to the regime, they added.