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Trump agrees Rand Paul can negotiate with Iran to reduce tensions

Trump has reversed his position on Rand as negotiator

On Thursday, Trump had denied that he had agreed to a request by Paul to meet with an Iranian official to help reduce tensions with the the US saying : “I would listen to him, but I didn’t appoint him, no. No, he’s somebody I listen to, and I respect Sen. Paul, and if he had some ideas I would listen.”

This contradicts a report on Wednesday in Politico: “Over a round of golf this past weekend, Sen. Rand Paul asked President Donald Trump’s blessing for a sensitive diplomatic mission. Paul proposed sitting down with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to extend a fresh olive branch on the president’s behalf, according to four U.S. officials. The aim: to reduce tensions between the two countries. Trump signed off on the idea.”

Now Trump confirms Paul’s mission again

Trump’s confirmation of Paul will be a big blow to the many hawks in the Trump administration such as Bolton. Rand has been a severe critic of US military intervention on foreign countries. He has demanded along with many others that Trump must have authorization from Congress to go to war with Iran.

Tensions growing with Iran

The US has been building up troops in the Middle East area claiming that there are unspecified threats from Iran. The US withdrew last from the a multilateral treaty with Iran over its nuclear development . It then inflicted severe sanctions on Iran and has tried to force other countries to also obey them. Iran is angry that the EU is not successfully evading those sanctions. Many EU companies want to conform with the US otherwise they could lose all business in the US. In response to not receiving the benefits it expected from the deal Iran is breaking some of its terms such as enriching uranium beyond the level agreed.

Recent events such as the downing of a US drone by Iran and attacks on shipping that the US blames on Iran have made matters worse. Now Iran has seized a UK ship after an Iranian tanker was seized off Gibraltar allegedly at the request of the US. The US also claims it shot down an Iranian drone.

On Friday Trump said: “Iran is showing their colors. Going to work out very nicely. Iran is in big trouble right now,. A lot of bad things are happening to them. It’s very easy to straighten out, or it’s very easy for us to make it a lot worse.” While Trump claims he is open to negotiations with Iran he has never talked of reducing sanctions as a means of encouraging diplomacy.

Trump has made several attempts to negotiate with Iran but Iran insists on US sanctions being lifted first so far.

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