Orientalist admits Iran-U.S. relations worsen under Trump

Relations between the United States and Iran have never been good, but they may worsen after the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. This was stated by Vladimir Sazhin, a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of the Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during a roundtable discussion on "The Middle East: the results of 2024" at the Izvestia IIC on December 27.

"Relations between Tehran and Washington have never been good. There have been moments of quite bad and not quite bad. I think that after January 20, these relations will become completely bad again. <...> The way out of this situation is largely centered on Iran's nuclear problem," the expert noted.

At the same time, he emphasized, it is practically impossible to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regulating the nuclear issue, against which background new agreements are needed.

"Even if this dialog is established, after January 20, Trump will demand very, very large-scale compromises from Iran," the speaker summarized.

In response to the agreement: Iran's president may come to Russia on January 17

Moscow and Tehran intend to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement

Earlier on December 5, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said he was ready to expand relations with Russia and China to counter the US. He added that the government seeks to realize a comprehensive partnership pact with Beijing. Then, on December 23, a Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Ministers Vitaly Savelyev and Alexei Overchuk arrived in Tehran on a working visit.

Prior to that, on November 24, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko shared his opinion that the comprehensive treaty between Russia and Iran will meet the challenges and requirements of modernity. According to him, the document will cover almost all spheres of Russian-Iranian cooperation, including defense and security.

In late October, the presidents of Russia and Iran met at the BRICS summit in Kazan. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time that ties between the two countries were on the rise and were friendly, and that the first trip to Russia by the president of the Islamic Republic since he took office was symbolic. At their previous meeting in the same month, the Russian leader said he was also expecting Pezeshkian to pay an official visit to Russia.