Rubio on Iran: ‘Complicated’ to negotiate with ‘radical Shia clerics’

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in North Carolina that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”

By JNS

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed on Sunday the challenge in negotiating with the Islamic Republic of Iran due to the “pure theology” that drives its decision-making.

“We’re dealing with radical Shia clerics and people who make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology,” Rubio told reporters at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany.

“It’s a complicated thing. No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we’re going to try,” he went on to say.

Referencing the constitutional requirement for the presidency to wage war with congressional approval, Rubio stated that, “We’ll always comply with the applicable laws of the United States in terms of involving Congress in any decision—but right now we’re not talking about any of that.

“We are postured in the region for one simple reason… we understand that there could be threats to our forces in the region; we’ve seen them threatened in the past, and we want to make sure that we have sufficient capacity to defend them, if God forbid that were to happen.”

The U.S. military has been amassing forces in the Middle East as tensions between Washington and Tehran have reached seething levels.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in North Carolina that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”

While talks are ongoing with the Iranians, “tremendous power has arrived [to the Gulf region]. An additional power, as you know, an additional [aircraft] carrier is going out,” the president said.

The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against the Islamic Republic if Trump gives the order to attack, Reuters cited two U.S. officials as saying.

On Saturday, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon shed some light on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brief visit to the United States on Feb. 11.

The diplomat told Israel’s broadcaster Channel 12 that in the case that war breaks out with Iran, Jerusalem and Washington “are already coordinated 100%” militarily.

In the case that a U.S. agreement is struck with Iran, Netanyahu wanted “to deliver our significant messages” to Trump in person, Danon said.

He further stated that the gaps between Washington’s demands and Tehran’s willingness to accept them, “to the best of my knowledge,” are too wide for reconciliation.

“I find it difficult to see how [the two] converge. Because also the Iranians, instead of softening, they are hardening their positions,” he relayed.

He went on to say that “until today President Trump proved that with all the talks and doubts he made the right decisions in the Middle East. I believe that this will also happen now. And we are preparing.”

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Geneva ahead of a second round of negotiations with the Trump administration, Iranian state television said on Monday, according to AFP.

Indirect talks mediated by Oman are expected to take place on Tuesday, the report cited the Iranians as saying.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are reportedly leading the American delegation.