In Trump’s first term in office he ordered an airstrike that killed high ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Qassem Soleimani [Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump has indicated he would like to resolve tensions with Iran through diplomacy after pre-inauguration speculation that he would reinstate a maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
The expected campaign, dubbed ‘Maximum Pressure 2.0‘, was a key subject of speculation in US media, which cited Trump transition team insiders.
However, when questioned on Thursday about conducting strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Trump said that “it would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step”.
“Iran will hopefully make a deal, and if they don’t make a deal that’s okay too,” he added.
His comments came after the Financial Times reported that his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who recently helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza reportedly through pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would also take on the Iran file.
When asked about whether Witkoff would be negotiating with Iran, Trump said, “no, but he’s certainly somebody I would use”.
Former administration figures had also been suggesting that Trump’s return would spell the end of the Iranian regime.
This includes former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who told the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran earlier in January that with the return of Trump to the White House he could “feel that the regime’s end is within reach”.
During Trump’s first term he withdrew from the landmark Iran nuclear deal and got into tit-for-tat strikes in Iraq, leading to a strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Qassem Soleimani.
Yet, since returning to the White House, Trump has sidelined high profile former members of his administration who took a hardline stance against Iran including Pompeo, as well as former Iran Envoy Brian Hook and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
All three have lost their security protection, which was deemed necessary based on threats from Iran, with Bolton also losing his security clearance and Hook being fired from his presidentially-appointed position on the board of the Wilson Center think tank.
Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told The New Arab that “contrary to all the buzz that was spread by hawks in Washington, Trump had no plan to return to maximum pressure, but appears eager to start diplomacy with Iran and strike a deal”.
Parsi said that Trumps only red line was Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, rather than enrichment, regime change or Iran’s regional footprint, all of which have been issues for previous US administrations as well as regional states such as Israel.
“He has repeatedly said that he wants a deal and has himself not telegraphed any desire to restart maximum pressure,” Parsi further said, noting that there has been an absence of “trash-talking” on his part.
“But Trump likely does not have a lot of patience – he wants a deal fast and will not tolerate dragged out talks.”
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s current Vice President for Strategic Affairs who led the country’s negotiations to broker a deal to halt its nuclear program, said at Davos on Wednesday that, “I hope that this time around, a ‘Trump Two’ will be more serious, more focused, more realistic.”
