Trump offers to talk. Iran says “No.”
If this were high-stakes poker, you would say that Iran is calling Trump’s bluff, believing that he doesn’t want to intervene in the war directly, and also believing that Israel is incapable of taking out Iran’s key nuclear site buried deeply under a mountain. Khamenei is gambling that his regime can ride out the storm and rebuild its nuclear program once Israel stops the bombing.
Iran refuses to negotiate while under attack from Israel https://t.co/eJWsQZDEGi
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) June 20, 2025
Iran rejected calls from Western leaders to return to the negotiating table, asserting it would not continue nuclear talks while under attack by Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that his country has discussed the possibility of reopening nuclear talks with Western leaders, but ultimately rejected offers due to ongoing Israeli attacks.
“The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations,” the minister said during televised remarks. “But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue.”
According to reports, Mr. Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have spoken on the phone several times since the outbreak of war between Israel and Iran last Thursday. During those talks, Mr. Araghchi reportedly told Mr. Witkoff that Iran could be more flexible on the nuclear issue if the U.S. pressured Israel to end the war.
“More flexible,” though, does not mean ceasing its enrichment program, at least if multiple reports are to be believed. It is talking about “limiting” enrichment, but has drawn the line–it will not dismantle its enrichment capacity.
Iran has rejected @realDonaldTrump demand for ZERO enrichment of uranium in a new nuclear deal.
It would seem Khamenei has a choice…accept ZERO enrichment or have it imposed on him pic.twitter.com/nsg1Pvzh8C— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) June 20, 2025
That’s not going to fly with either Israel or Trump. Israel is not going to quit bombing, and Trump has drawn a line in the sand on zero enrichment. He has called for unconditional surrender, and it would be a surprise to see him back off of that demand now that Iran’s skies are clear.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump has proposed a NEW deal to Iran via Steve Witkoff, Karoline Leavitt reveals
It’s very simple and straight forward:
✅ NO uranium enrichment
✅ BAR Iran from working toward a nuclear weaponTAKE THE DEAL, IRAN! Last chance! pic.twitter.com/YDPUlDcxiH
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 19, 2025
Not that bombing Iran is completely without risk. There are legitimate concerns about terrorist cells hidden in Western countries, and apparently, Keir Starmer and other European countries are warning Trump against striking Iran because of this.
Extreme moral cowardice. Argue against America striking Iran, fine, there is a debate to be had. Grounding your argument in fear of Iranian reprisals and terrorist activity is appalling – living in subservience to Islamic terrorist threats is pathetic. https://t.co/jt9dbNy6s1
— Tony Gilland (@tonygilland) June 19, 2025
Because, of course, they are.
Britain and Europe have warned Donald Trump that any US attack on Iran risks endangering Westerners being held by the Islamic Republic.
Diplomatic sources told The Telegraph that Washington had also been told that military intervention could trigger a wave of terror attacks by sleeper cells across Europe.
It comes as part of an effort by Britain, France and Germany to broker a diplomatic end to Israel’s war with Iran.
Mr Trump has approved plans for a US strike on Iran, but has not yet given a final order.
European foreign ministers will meet their Iranian counterpart for talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
David Lammy, Jean-Noel Barrot and Johann Wadephul will be joined by Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, for what could emerge as showdown negotiations to avoid an all-out war in the Middle East.
As the conflict between Israel and Iran continued to escalate on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer called for “cool heads and a return to diplomacy”. The Prime Minister’s spokesman added: “We would not want to see anything that ramps up the situation.”
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, issued a similar plea, calling for an urgent end to Israel’s war to bring Mr Trump back from the brink of becoming involved.
Most of Iran’s deterrents and defenses are gone. Hamas and Hezbollah were supposed to be swords held over the Israelis’ heads, and neither group has been able to participate in Iran’s war with Israel. Iran’s air defense seems to be down to anti-aircraft guns, with their air defense missiles put out of action. Its ballistic missile launchers are getting whittled down, making its strikes on Israel now one-offs.
So terrorism is the last card they can play.
It was also relayed that a vulnerable Iran could lash out by using its network of proxies to conduct a terror campaign on the streets of Europe. This warning was designed to resonate with Mr Trump, who himself was a target of an Iranian murder-for-hire plot.
Tehran has been behind similar assassination attempts in Britain, where an Iranian television journalist was stabbed in London by two men acting on behalf of the regime.
Last year, Ken McCallum, the director of the MI5 intelligence service, warned that at least 20 Iranian-backed plots had been foiled by the British authorities since 2022.
Iran’s threat, while real, is undermined by the fact that it already engages in terrorism to some extent in Western countries. Eliminating the regime would cut off a continuing source of funds and manpower, leading to a reduction in that threat over time. And Trump has shown a lot of grit regarding these threats–he has struck Iran hard multiple times, and the blowback has been minuscule. That doesn’t ensure that it would be this time, but it is a data point that Trump will use in his calculations.
Going from “Iran must surrender and have no nuclear program” to “let’s do another deal that maintains the status quo” would be catastrophic to Trump’s ability to project power to our enemies.
Which is why I think all the claims he’s backing down here are nonsense. Wait and see.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) June 20, 2025
Trump has said he will decide whether to strike Iran “within two weeks,” but as The New York Times wrote–I think correctly–“two weeks” is not an actual unit of time for Trump. He uses “two weeks” as a placeholder when he doesn’t want to reveal his true thoughts. Never Trumpers see this as Trump being a liar or coward, but in reality, it is just a verbal tic that means “I’m not ready or willing to say.”
It’s hard to see how either Iran or Donald Trump could back down. Khamenei’s legitimacy as the Supreme Leader is at stake. Trump needs to be able to declare victory. It’s possible that Israel could do enough damage alone to make that possible–he has tied himself to Israel’s efforts, and if they succeed alone, he can still claim victory.
But US bombs destroying Fordow would be unambiguous. I think he is more likely than not to choose to go there.
