WANA (Apr 08) – The issue of a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States became headline news following Trump’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

 

The Americans have been requesting direct talks for weeks, but due to the U.S.’s past breaches of commitment and as a form of punishment, Tehran has, at least for the start, proposed indirect negotiations.

 

Reports suggest that the meeting venue in Oman has already been arranged by the Omanis based on an indirect meeting format. One suite on the left, one suite on the right, and a central hall with a table have been designated for the Omani side.

 

Overall, whether the meeting is indirect or direct may not be as significant as it is being portrayed, but it carries several important messages.

 

Indirect negotiation is a barrier to the dominance, authoritarian planning, and threatening posture of Trump’s team—particularly Vitiakov—whose position, following all the military deployments and threats before negotiations, is now stripped of superiority in the talks.

 

Unlike previous times, the American team must now travel several thousand kilometers to Oman, and even then, sit in a compound and write their message by hand to give to the Omani side. The Iranian side, only a few meters away, reads the message and writes a handwritten response to be delivered back to the Americans.

 

This very arrangement—and the fact that the American side has submitted to it at the initial step—is deeply humiliating. The world’s biggest superpower, which usually makes countries beg to comply with its commands through threats, has now reached a point where the threatening side is the one requesting direct talks, not the one being threatened!

 

This tactic and setup—i.e., indirect negotiation—sends a message to the American negotiators that:

  • You are untrustworthy and the one’s who are oath-breakers.
  • Iran has no hope in your commitments and will not negotiate under threat, intimidation, or dictation.

 

Of course, Iran has implicitly stated that if an agreement is reached within a certain framework, direct talks could then be planned.

 

Acceptance of direct negotiations largely depends on how the Americans behave in Oman. If the atmosphere progresses positively, evidence suggests that Tehran would not oppose direct negotiations either.