Dr Abbas Milani

They want to have the cake and eat it too. They want to have negotiations, but they also want to claimed to be abiding by Mr Khamenei's edict that there should be no direct negotiations. I think these are as close to direct negotiations as possible. And Iran, I think, has no choice but to participate. Trump knows this. Netanyahu knows this. Khamenei knows this.

They want to have the cake and eat it too. They want to have negotiations, but they also want to claimed to be abiding by Mr Khamenei's edict that there should be no direct negotiations. I think these are as close to direct negotiations as possible. And Iran, I think, has no choice but to participate. Trump knows this. Netanyahu knows this. Khamenei knows this.

And almost the entire Iranian nation knows this.

And almost the entire Iranian nation knows this.