US President Donald Trump will never get a chance to sit down for talks with Iranian leaders as long as he keeps treating the Islamic Republican with disrespect, says an American commentator.
Stephen Lendman, a Chicago-based radio host and author, made the remarks while discussing Trump’s remarks that he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without any preconditions.
He then said he had “a feeling” that talks will come “pretty soon.”
Iranian leaders, however, have unanimously rejected Trump’s claims, saying Tehran prefers to on the path of resistance.
Lendman said Trump’s statement didn’t hold much substance as there was no signs of a real change in Washington’s policy towards Iran.
“One day Trump says one thing, another day he says something says. It really matters less what a US leader – whether it be Trump or anybody else- says. The only thing that matters is what they do,” He told Press TV on Wednesday.
“We know exactly the way Trump has treated Iran, has treated Russia, treated North Korea, treated Venezuela, treated Syria and treated all other independent countries,” the analyst added.
Pointing to Trump’s pledge to further sanction Iran after leaving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the six world powers, Lendman said this is the kind of actions by Washington that matter when it comes to Washington’s real feelings for the Islamic Republic.
Back in May, Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) despite objections from the other signatories to the multilateral accord. The move entails the re-imposition of the nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.
Besides those restrictive measures, the White House has vowed the “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran unless the country fulfills a list of US demands.
Lendman said there was no way Rouhani was going to sit down for talks with US officials “with this stuff going on.”
“The only way Iran would ever meet with a US leader – Trump or any other one – is if the leader shows Iran the respect it deserves,” he said. “If it stops its hostile actions and treats Iran lawfully and respectfully the way all sovereign countries want to be respected.”
Noting that Trump was more likely to go into war with Iran, the analyst said what Washington really wanted was to take away Iran’s independence.
“Trump doesn’t want to talk to Rouhani, Trump wants a servile Iran and he will do anything to pursue that objective; that is what his comment really is all about,” Lendman further argued.
The analyst said talks between Iran and Washington were not likely to take place anytime soon despite Trump’s claim that they will happen in near future.
“American never negotiates, it demands,” Lendman said. “As long as that’s the way it treats other countries there’s no point dealing with it.”
source: Presstv
