New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) Iranian leadership making different statements and its decision to negotiate indicates that there are significant cracks within the system now with Tehran seemingly under a lot of pressure, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has emphasised.
In an interview with IANS, Azar confirmed that negotiations between Iran and the US are ongoing and US President Donald Trump has updated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the current situation.
When asked whether US Vice President J D Vance discussed an effort to open a negotiation with Iran during a phone call with Israel PM Netanyahu, he responded, “It is true that there are negotiations going on, yes. We heard the President of the United States talking about that. We have seen corroboration of that by different sources and our Prime Minister was updated on that situation by the President himself.”
Azar expressed optimism about the negotiations between Iran and the US. He said that the Gulf nations are supportive of Israel’s operations and they have started expressing it openly following the Iranian attacks.
On being asked whether Israel is optimistic about Trump’s statement that the United States and Iran have held talks in complete and total resolution of hostileness in the Middle East, he responded, “Yes, we are optimistic, because as I told you, the Iranians in the past weren’t agreeing to negotiate as a result of the launching of our operation. So, the fact that now they have agreed to negotiate, it means that they are under pressure. We are also seeing a lot of disconcert among the Iranian ranks.”
“From time to time, you see different statements from different people. I think it shows that there are cracks within the system. I think that they have a very high degree of insecurity and therefore they are denying some of the things that they are doing and this is a good thing. It means that there is a lot of pressure put on them. And this gives me hope that the negotiations will succeed. If they don’t succeed, we will continue the operation until we reach our goals, which I stated at the outset,” he added.
Trump said on Tuesday (local time) that the United States is in active negotiations with Iran and declared that the conflict had been “won”.
Speaking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony of Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of Homeland Security at the White House, Trump said talks with Iran were underway and involved top members of his administration.
“We’re in negotiations, as it turned out. Now, you’ve seen what I said yesterday was exactly correct. We’re in negotiations right now,” he said. “They’re doing it, along with Marco, JD. We have a number of people doing it.”
He added that senior officials, including Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, were part of the effort.
“And the other side, I can tell you, likes to make a deal. And who wouldn’t if you were that,” Trump said.
The President suggested that the current Iranian leadership had already undergone significant changes. “It’s what we have really, regime change. You know, this is a change in the regime because the leaders are all very different from the ones that we started off with that created all those problems,” he said.
Trump also said Iran had signalled its intent during talks by offering concessions linked to energy routes.
He spoke of “a gift” offered by the Iranian side regarding oil and gas and the Strait of Hormuz, to demonstrate that they are in control. He said the offer “was worth a lot of money”.
Reiterating his administration’s red line, Trump said Iran would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. “They aren’t going to have nuclear weapons,” he said.
On the status of the conflict, Trump rejected suggestions that fighting was continuing.
“This war has been won,” he said. He added that only the “fake news” was suggesting otherwise and claimed that the opposing military was “totally defeated”.
–IANS
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