War in the Middle East: Donald Trump on the path to compromise with Iran?

Will the American president choose the path of compromise with Iran? Despite the apparent prudence of his statements on Sunday May 24 where he mentioned the need to “orderly and constructive negotiations” pour “do things well and don’t make mistakes”, Donald Trump seems more determined than ever to find the beginnings of a solution to the trap he got into at the end of February.

Pressured by everyone, with the notable exception of Israel, to put an end to the crisis, the American president is therefore considering an exit providing, initially, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the extension of the ceasefire. It would only be a memorandum of understanding intended to reduce tensions on the markets and in particular to stabilize oil prices.

The essential issues would be discussed later, and in particular the most sensitive subject of the Iranian nuclear program. “We cannot sign a nuclear treaty in 72 hours on the corner of a table”admitted the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The idea would therefore be to give ourselves a period of 60 days to get to the bottom of the discussions on nuclear power, with several burning questions on the table: the fate of the approximately 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that Iran would have, Tehran’s enrichment capacities and the future of its nuclear program, with everything concerning the centrifuges, installations and control of its activities.

The whole challenge for Trump is to obtain more than the agreement signed in 2015 by Obama, from which he left during his first term. This worries the Israelis and a certain number of American elected officials, particularly in the Republican camp, that of Trump, where the supporters of a hard line with Iran expressed regret on Sunday at the hypothesis of an agreement without firm commitment from Tehran. “The proposed deal seems straight out of the Obama playbook,” lashed out at Trump’s former chief diplomat, Mike Pompeo, on social media, adding that we “is far from ‘America First'” chère à Donald Trump.

Benjamin Netanyahu also shared his concern at the White House during a phone call on Saturday. The Israeli Prime Minister insisted on the importance of the nuclear issue and fears an agreement which would prevent him from continuing his operations against the Lebanese Hezbollah. “Any agreement with Iran will guarantee Israel the right to defend itself,” tried to reassure Marco Rubio Monday morning. The nuclear issue will not be forgotten, Trump promised on the telephone, but Israel’s voice clearly seems less carried than it did at the end of February when the war began.