Neither antagonist, however, showed much desire to discuss the many issues dividing them, from Iran’s reawakening nuclear program to the U.S. sanctions squeezing the Iranian economy.
The absence of dialogue – let alone a presidential meeting – shows neither is yet willing to abandon core elements of policy: the U.S. belief that pressure will bring Iran to its knees, and Iran’s refusal to capitulate to U.S. duress.
As a result, European and Gulf officials expect Washington to keep tightening its vise on Iran’s economy and foresee more attacks in the Gulf – like the Sept. 14 strikes on Saudi oil facilities – that the West blames on Tehran despite its denials.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson teamed up on Tuesday to urge Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to meet U.S. President Donald Trump while they were all in New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly.
“If he leaves the country without meeting with President Trump, this is a lost opportunity,” Macron told Johnson in a rare three-way meeting with Rouhani caught on camera.
“You need to be on the side of the swimming pool and jump at the same time,” Johnson said, miming a jumping gesture to the Iranian president, who was wearing his habitual floor-length robe.
Iranian officials sniffed at the idea of Rouhani-Trump talks in New York, with one on Wednesday putting the odds at “zero.”
“The era of using pressure to bring a country to its knees is over,” said a second Iranian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They also reiterated, in public and private, their demands that the United States return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump abandoned last year and that it ease the sanctions he tightened in May to try to eliminate Iran’s oil exports.
“They walked out of the deal, imposed sanctions, tried to cut our oil exports, threatened other countries to stop helping us,” said the second Iranian official. “Then they talk about talks? No chance.”
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