{"id":314659,"date":"2026-02-28T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314659\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:00:08","slug":"why-iran-resists-giving-up-its-nuclear-program-even-as-trump-threatens-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314659\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Iran resists giving up its nuclear program, even as Trump threatens strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Embassy staffers and dependents evacuating, airlines suspending service, eyes in Iran warily turning skyward for signs of an attack.<\/p>\n

The prospects of a showdown between the U.S. and Iran loom ever higher, as massive American naval and air power lies in wait off Iran\u2019s shores and land borders. <\/p>\n

Yet little of that urgency is felt in Iran\u2019s government. Rather than quickly acquiescing to President Trump\u2019s demands, Iranian diplomats persist in the kind of torturously slow diplomatic dance that marked previous discussions with the U.S., a pace that prompted Trump to declare on Friday that the Iranians were not negotiating in \u201cgood faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

But For Iran\u2019s leadership, Iranian experts say, concessions of the sort Trump are asking for about nuclear power and the country\u2019s role in the Middle East undermine the very ethos of the Islamic Republic <\/a>and the decades-old project it has created.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an Islamic theocracy, Iran serves as a role model for the Islamic world. And as a role model, we cannot capitulate,\u201d said Hamid Reza Taraghi, who heads international affairs for Iran\u2019s Islamic Coalition Party, or Hezb-e Motalefeh Eslami.<\/p>\n

Besides, he added, \u201cmilitarily we are strong enough to fight back and make any enemy regret attacking us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as another round of negotiations ended with no resolution this week, the U.S. has completed a buildup involving more than 150 aircraft into the region, along with roughly a third of all active U.S. ships<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Observers say those forces remain insufficient for anything beyond a short campaign of a few weeks or a high-intensity kinetic strike.<\/p>\n

Iran would be sure to retaliate, perhaps against an aircraft carrier or the many U.S. military bases arrayed in the region. Though such an attack is unlikely to destroy its target, it could damage or at least disrupt operations, demonstrating that \u201cAmerican power is not untouchable,\u201d said Hooshang Tal\u00e9, a former Iranian parliamentarian.<\/p>\n

Tehran could also mobilize paramilitary groups it cultivated in the region, including Iraqi militias and Yemen\u2019s Houthis, Tal\u00e9 added. Other U.S. rivals, such as Russia and China, may seize the opportunity to launch their own campaigns elsewhere in the world while the U.S. remains preoccupied in the Middle East, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom this perspective, Iran would not be acting entirely alone,\u201d Tale said. \u201cIndirect alignment among U.S. adversaries \u2014 even without a formal alliance \u2014 would create a cascading effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not exactly happy with the way they\u2019re negotiating and, again, they cannot have nuclear weapons<\/p>\n

\u2014 President Trump<\/p>\n

The U.S. demands Iran give up all nuclear enrichment and relinquish existing stockpiles of enriched uranium so as to stop any path to developing a bomb. Iran has repeatedly stated it does not want to build a nuclear weapon and that nuclear enrichment would be for exclusively peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has also talked about curtailing Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program and its support to proxy groups, such as Hezbollah<\/a>, in the region, though those have not been consistent demands. Tehran insists the talks should be limited to the nuclear issue.<\/p>\n

After indirect negotiations on Thursday, Oman\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi \u2014 the mediator for the talks in Geneva \u2014 lauded what he said was \u201csignificant progress.\u201d Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said there had been \u201cconstructive proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, however, struck a frustrated tone when speaking to reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not exactly happy <\/a>with the way they\u2019re negotiating and, again, they cannot have nuclear weapons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump also downplayed concerns that an attack could escalate into a longer conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-government <\/p>\n

This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9.<\/p>\n

(Uncredited \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you could say there\u2019s always a risk. You know, when there\u2019s war, there\u2019s a risk in anything, both good and bad,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Three days earlier, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, said, \u201cMy preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world\u2019s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon \u2014 can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are other signs an attack could be imminent.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Israel allowed staff to leave the country if they wished. That followed an earlier move this week to evacuate dependents in the embassy in Lebanon. Other countries have followed suit, including the U.K, which pulled its embassy staff in Tehran. Meanwhile, several airlines have suspended service to Israel and Iran. <\/p>\n

A U.S. military campaign would come at a sensitive time for Iran\u2019s leadership. <\/p>\n

The country\u2019s armed forces are still recovering from the June war with Israel and the U.S, which left more than 1,200 people dead and more than 6,000 injured in Iran. In Israel, 28 people were killed and dozens injured. <\/p>\n

Unrest in January \u2014 when security forces killed anywhere from 3,000 to 30,000 protesters (estimates range wildly) \u2014 means the government has no shortage of domestic enemies. Meanwhile, long-term sanctions have hobbled Iran\u2019s economy and left most Iranians desperately poor.<\/p>\n

Despite those vulnerabilities, observers say the U.S. buildup is likely to make Iran dig in its heels, especially because it would not want to set the precedent of giving up positions at the barrel of a U.S. gun.<\/p>\n

Other U.S. demands would constitute red lines. Its missile arsenal, for example, counts as its main counter to the U.S. and Israel, said Rose Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at the Defense Priorities think tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s deterrence policy is defense by attrition. They act like a porcupine so the bear will drop them\u2026 The missiles are the quills,\u201d she said, adding that the strategy means Iran cannot fully defend against the U.S., but could inflict pain.<\/p>\n

At the same time, although mechanisms to monitor nuclear enrichment exist, reining in Tehran\u2019s support for proxy groups would be a much harder matter to verify.<\/p>\n

But the larger issue is that Iran doesn\u2019t trust Trump to follow through on whatever the negotiations reach.<\/p>\n

After all, it was Trump who withdrew from an Obama-era deal designed to curb Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, despite widespread consensus Iran was in compliance.<\/p>\n

Trump and numerous other critics complained Iran was not constrained in its other \u201cmalign activities,\u201d such as support for militant groups in the Middle East and development of ballistic missiles. The Trump administration embarked on a policy of \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d hoping to bring Iran to its knees, but it was met with what Iran watchers called maximum resistance.<\/p>\n

In June, he joined Israel in attacking Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, a move that didn\u2019t result in the Islamic Republic returning to negotiations and accepting Trump\u2019s terms. And he has waxed wistfully about regime change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has worked very hard to make U.S. threats credible by amassing this huge military force offshore, and they\u2019re extremely credible at this point,\u201d Kelanic said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he also has to make his assurances credible that if Iran agrees to U.S. demands, that the U.S. won\u2019t attack Iran anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal\u00e9, the former parliamentarian, put it differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Iranian diplomats demonstrate flexibility, Trump will be more emboldened,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why Iran, as a sovereign nation, must not capitulate to any foreign power, including America.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Embassy staffers and dependents evacuating, airlines suspending service, eyes in Iran warily turning skyward for signs of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4160,12987,42,87,157326,46,47,35745,43,8679,12650,1668,2047,3336,40,38,41,39,627,4374,2709],"class_list":{"0":"post-314659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-attack","9":"tag-country","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-islamic-world","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-middle-east","15":"tag-negotiation","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nuclear-weapon","18":"tag-region","19":"tag-role","20":"tag-support","21":"tag-tehran","22":"tag-top-news","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topnews","25":"tag-topstories","26":"tag-trump","27":"tag-u-s","28":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}