The Islamic Republic has deliberately dragged out negotiations with the United States in order to weaken Donald Trump politically ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. Three senior Islamic Republic officials and one person with knowledge from inside the government confirmed this strategy to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, in a report published on Tuesday, 20 October.
According to these officials, Tehran is preparing not for a deal but for a new round of US and Israeli strikes, and the government is determined to give Trump no political victory. They saw little chance of any breakthrough before the US elections and said Tehran expects American voters, worried about high petrol prices, to punish Trump.
The Islamic Republic's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz
Through Qatari mediators, the Islamic Republic has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, but under its own control and only if the United States lifts the naval blockade, eases restrictions on oil exports, releases frozen assets and ends the conflict on all fronts. Tehran wants these conditions met before any nuclear negotiations, while Washington wants the nuclear programme on the table from the outset. Abbas Araghchi had earlier also tied a return to diplomacy to the lifting of the naval blockade in an article in the Financial Times.
The report comes alongside other signs of the Islamic Republic playing games with the US elections. Government officials had earlier also said that attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz were meant to push up oil prices and hurt Trump before the elections. The White House and the Islamic Republic's foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
The cost of this strategy for the people of Iran
The people of Iran are paying the price of this game. The rial has lost nearly 35 percent of its value against the dollar since the US naval blockade was resumed in July, and according to the tanker-tracking firm Vortexa, the Islamic Republic's seaborne crude oil exports fell to zero in early September and have stayed at zero into October.
Donald Trump has said he will not bomb the Islamic Republic before 3 November, but reports point to plans for new US and Israeli strikes being prepared for after the elections. Alex Vatanka, a researcher at the Middle East Institute, says Tehran believes Trump is seeking a change of government in Iran.
The Islamic Republic has turned stalling in negotiations into a tool for pressuring the US elections, while Iran's economy collapses under the blockade.
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