Iran might not have launched attack on "Aramco"; U.S professor
A professor at University of South Alabama Michael Hollingsworth said to ILNA that the future of the relation between U.S and Iran is hard to predict, especially with Trump’s apparent desire to withdraw U.S. troops from the Middle East and to some degree disengage from the conflicts there.
In an exclusive Interview with ILNA news agency, the U.S professor added "most of the concerns the United States have with the Middle East now involve Iran to some extent, but this does not necessarily mean that Trump is opposed to more open diplomatic communications with Iran."
"Europe has some influence on American foreign policy, and members of the European Union might be able to act as intermediaries for negotiations between Iran and Trump. It is unlikely that they will be able to convince Trump to take any action that he would not otherwise take."
He pointed to Iran nuclear deal and said "The United States withdrew from this agreement in 2018 and of course conditions around this agreement have deteriorated since then. There seems to be continual problems that would derail these efforts such as attacks on Aramco."
The international affairs analyst said There is no reason to think that Iran could not negotiate with Trump. Adding that I definitely agree negotiations without results are undesirable. In addition, negotiations with North Korea have not been a complete failure. There is at least dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, so things are better than they were before."
Michael Hollingsworth referred to attack on oil giant Saudi Aramco and said "Saudi Arabia stated that they had evidence, but this was never presented. There should be radar tracks regarding where the attack came from, although there are many reasons this might not be released but Iran might not have launched the attack.
"Barring a direct attack on either Saudi Arabia or U.S. assets, I do not think there will be significant military action by the United States. They will continue with various displays of power, and a carrier battle group will be available if needed."
He also responded to a question about the impact of Bolton's departure from the Trump administration and added that I believe that it can have an effect. Many liberals accused Bolton of being anti-Islamic in general, which might be too strong of a statement. His departure opens up more possibilities of negotiations with Iran, but there are still multiple issues that have to be addressed
"But negotiations under sanctions are not ideal, but are going to be necessary. There is no reason for the United States to lift these sanctions before negotiations take place and Iran should not expect them to do that," he said.
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