‘Very premature’ for US to expect deal that leads to Iran surrender

Hamed Mousavi, a professor of political science at Tehran University, says the Iranian side would be interested in talking even indirectly to the US one, but ultimately that depends on what Trump is seeking.

“If the agreement he wants is a kind of surrender by Iran, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he told Al Jazeera. “However, I think if he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal and that leads to a ceasefire, then I think that’s doable.”

Asked to comment on Trump’s call for a “complete give-up” from the Iranian side, Mousavi replied: “What we’re hearing from Washington looks like a complete surrender by Iran – that’s what Donald Trump seems to want”.

He said he did not believe this would occur “any time soon”, arguing that the Iranian government is “actually quite confident with the way things are going with Israel”.

“They are still able to carry out multiple ballistic missile attacks on Israeli cities, so the balance of power from the perspective of the Iranian government is still not against Iran, and I think it’s very premature for the Trump administration to expect a sort of an agreement that leads to … a surrender of Iran.”

Source: Al Jazeera