A chance for diplomacy

[fridi]

The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fahrizadeh in late November (considered the father of the Iranian nuclear program) has angered Tehran, as could be expected. The first response was passing a bill that allowed their government to block UN inspections from accessing their nuclear sites, and speeding up the uranium enrichment - provided that the crippling sanctions are not lifted in two months. But still, the public statements of their officials indicated hat they still haven't written off possible negotiations with the US.

Iran doesn't want to look weak, and of course it's hard to ignore the hardliners within the Iranian political elites. But the Iranians could gain from sticking to the policy of strategic patience. Joe Biden is about to get sworn in in about a month, so it's worth the wait.

Fahrizdeh's murder is believed to be Israel's work, and it was probably blessed by Trump. From where I'm standing this looks like he's doing his best to undermine any last prospects of Iranian-US diplomacy in his final days at the White House. But if Iran manages to hold their anger for a while more and wait for Biden to step in, the two sides would have a real chance to get back to the table.

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