Trump Demands Do-or-die Nuclear Talks With Iran. Who Has The Leverage?

President Donald Trump remains adamant that his management will prosecute successful "direct" atomic talks pinch Iran connected Saturday successful Oman, while Tehran appears to stay arsenic patient successful its insistence nan negotiations will beryllium "indirect."

Middle East envoy Stever Witkoff is scheduled to recreation to Oman, wherever he could perchance beryllium gathering pinch Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, though nan Iranian charismatic has truthful acold maintained nan talks will beryllium held done a 3rd party.

While it remains unclear who will get their measurement regarding nan format of nan discussions, Iran master and elder chap astatine nan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Behnam Ben Taleblu, said this public controversy betwixt Washington and Tehran is each a crippled of leverage.

"Both sides person an inducement to either overrepresent aliases underrepresent what is happening," he told Fox News Digital. "These are often nan negotiations earlier nan negotiations." 

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters arsenic he signs executive orders successful nan Oval Office connected April 9, 2025. (Getty Images)

"For nan White House, nan desire to beryllium seen arsenic having nonstop talks pinch nan Islamic Republic is high," he said, pointing to nan deficiency of nonstop engagement betwixt Washington and Tehran making love backmost to his first word and nan regime’s heavy disdain for nan president, arsenic witnessed successful an evident assassination attempt. 

While nan Iranian government has agelong held contempt for nan U.S., a sentiment that has persisted for decades, Trump is "very different," Ben Taleblu said.

The information master highlighted nan 2020 assassination of apical Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, nan crippling effect of nan U.S.-sanctioned maximum-pressure run and Trump’s unfastened support for nan Iranian group arsenic nan awesome issues that person rankled nan Iranian regime.

"Trump is simply a very bitter pill to swallow, and I deliberation nan ultimate leader of Iran erstwhile said that nan footwear of Qasem Soleimani has much grant than nan caput of Trump," Ben Taleblu said. "Being seen arsenic straight negotiating pinch personification [like that] would beryllium making nan Islamic Republic look for illustration a supplicant. 

"The U.S. wants to beryllium seen arsenic having driven Iran to nan negotiating table, and nan Islamic Republic does not want to beryllium seen arsenic being driven to nan negotiating table," he added. 

Iranian Quds Force commandant Qassem Soleimani is shown successful 2016. (Press Office of Iranian Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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Tehran’s main advantage is nan truth that, contempt terrible U.S. sanctions and geopolitical attempts to halt its improvement of a atomic weapon, it has made superior gains successful its enrichment of uranium to near-weapons-grade quality, arsenic good arsenic pinch its missile program, a captious constituent successful being capable to really occurrence a atomic warhead.

It besides has drastically person ties pinch main U.S. adversarial superpowers for illustration Russia and China, whose position and engagement successful countering Western attempts to disarm a atomic Iran remains an chartless astatine this point. 

While Iran holds important leverage erstwhile it comes to negotiating pinch nan Trump management connected its atomic program, Washington has a plethora of levers it tin usage to either incentivize aliases coerce Tehran into adhering to world calls for nan extremity of its atomic program.

"The U.S. really has a heck of a batch of leverage here," Ben Taleblu said, pointing to not only much economical sanctions, including "snapback" mechanisms nether nan United Nations Security Council, but besides subject options.

Trump past period threatened to "bomb" Iran if it did not prosecute successful atomic talks pinch nan U.S.

But immoderate person questioned really agelong nan management will let negotiations to persist arsenic JCPOA-era snapback sanctions expire successful October 2025.

The White House would not corroborate for Fox News Digital immoderate clip restrictions it has issued to Iran, but Trump connected Wednesday told reporters, "We person a small time, but we don’t person overmuch time."

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyzed wherever Iran's atomic infrastructure is located. (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)

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"The authorities has its backmost against nan wall," Ben Taleblu said. "A subject option, fixed what has been happening successful nan Middle East since Oct. 7, 2023, is an progressively reliable action against nan Islamic Republic of Iran."

"And nan authorities is engaging, now, to hold and forestall a subject action from ever materializing," he added. "They are hoping to usage talks pinch nan Americans arsenic a quality shield against nan Israelis."

"So agelong arsenic you're talking to America, nan Israelis aren't shooting astatine you," Ben Taleblu continued. 

Trump this week said that it would beryllium Israel who would return nan lead connected a subject onslaught connected Iran, not nan U.S., should atomic talks fail, which again could beryllium a negotiating maneuver arsenic Israel has already demonstrated it will not hesitate to militarily prosecute pinch Iran.

"Pursuing wholesale disarmament of nan Islamic Republic of Iran is incredibly risky, and it doesn't person a awesome way grounds of succeeding," Ben Taleblu said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to President Donald Trump during a gathering successful nan Oval Office connected April 7, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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The Iranian master said nan only measurement to really return connected nan Islamic Republic would beryllium done a "broader" and "more holistic" strategy that focuses not only connected atomic nonproliferation but removing nan "Axis of Resistance," scaling up sanctions and having a "ground game" to antagonistic nan authorities done cyber, governmental and telecommunication strategies "for erstwhile Iranians spell retired into nan thoroughfare and protestation again."

"What nan Islamic Republic would ever want is to person you attraction connected nan occurrence and not connected nan arsonist, and nan arsonist is rather virtually a authorities that has tried to termination this president," Ben Taleblu said.