Iran, to avoid ‘maximum pressure from Trump,’ hints at willingness to negotiate

This Saturday, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that “the lifting of sanctions requires negotiations, but not within the framework of a ‘maximum pressure’ policy, because it would not be a negotiation but a form of surrender.”

The statement comes after Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that negotiating with the United States would be neither "wise, intelligent nor honorable" during a meeting with members of the Air Force on Friday. This was in response to the signing of a memorandum by the White House to establish a campaign of "maximum pressure" on the Iranian regime to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons and to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero cost.

In remarks made in the White House Oval Office, Trump stated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that his country has the right to block the sale of Iranian oil to other nations, Reuters reported.

Before signing the document, an official told Reuters that, through the memo, Trump would direct the U.S. Treasury secretary to impose a series of maximum economic pressure measures on the Iranians based on sanctions and enforcement mechanisms for those who violate existing sanctions.

It should be noted that the Republican had reduced Iran's oil exports to almost zero during his first term. However, they increased during the Biden administration as Tehran managed to evade sanctions.