Iranian officials appear to be signaling that they are waiting for a message from President Donald Trump on whether he wants to negotiate over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s government seems to be welcoming some recent decisions by the United States — even though they happen to come from a man Iranian operatives have allegedly been plotting to assassinate.
President Donald Trump’s moves to freeze spending on foreign aid and overhaul, maybe even end, the U.S. Agency for International Development have been lauded in Iranian state media.
The reports say the decisions will halt funding for opponents of the country’s Shiite theocracy — pro-democracy activists and others supported through programs as part of U.S. government efforts to help democracy worldwide.
At the same time, Iranian officials appear to be signaling that they are waiting for a message from Trump on whether he wants to negotiate over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. At stake are potentially billions of dollars withheld from Iran through crushing sanctions and the future of a program on the precipice of enriching.
And even when signing an executive order to reimpose his “maximum pressure on Iran” on Tuesday, Trump suggested he wanted to deal with Tehran.
Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians worry what all this could mean for them. On Wednesday, Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to a record low of 850,000 to $1 after Trump’s order, showing the ongoing economic volatility they face. A decade ago, it stood at 32,000 rials to $1.