When it comes to Iran and Donald Trump, there is so much bluff, backed by military hardware, that the truth rarely makes an appearance.
It appears that a bullish Iran is going into negotiations with the US on Friday adopting maximalist positions that do not seem greatly different to those it adopted in the five rounds of talks before the negotiations were abruptly halted by the surprise Israeli attack on Iran last June.
Given how much Iran has been weakened in the intervening eight months, Tehran’s refusal to change its negotiating position is at one level surprising.
After all, during its 12-day war with Israel, the vulnerabilities of Iran’s air defences, and the penetration by Israeli intelligence of Iran’s political military and scientific elite were both revealed. More than 30 Iranian military commanders were killed, and 160 strikes on Iranian military targets undertaken.
On 22 June the US, using B-2s and 30 Tomahawk missiles, hit Iran’s three major nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz, eviscerating its nuclear programme.
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