As the world reels from the chaos of a geopolitical order turned upside down, and as we wait to see if America really will invade Canada, spare a thought for Tehran. Losing one ally in the space of 12 months (Hezbollah) is bad enough. But losing two (Syria) is downright terrible. And then add to the mix the prosect of losing a third (Russia) as Moscow contemplates sacrificing the Islamic Republic on the altar of Putin’s pivot towards Donald Trump, and you have a really, really bad few months. Tehran can’t work out which way is up.
Recently, the regime fired two senior politicians, who would have been likely to negotiate with Donald Trump’s team on the ever thorny issue of Iran’s nuclear programme. When in doubt, the regime reverts to type – mistrusting the West.
The Islamic Republic, no matter how deep its crises at home and abroad, still just can’t bring itself to negotiate with Donald Trump.
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