Iran Looks to Trump and Nuclear Talks as Escape Hatch as Attacks Intensify

Some Israeli analysts see Iran's willingness to return to the negotiating table as a stalling tactic

- Sudarsan Raghavan & Benoit Faucon

With Iran's air defenses shredded, allies sidelined, and its arsenal of missiles dwindling, the country's theocratic leaders face the prospect of having to submit to a tougher negotiation on their nuclear program as their only way out of a worsening situation.

Iran's next steps could determine whether the theocratic regime will overcome what is arguably its gravest crisis since its war with Iraq in the 1980s. Tehran is looking to talks as a possible escape hatch, a way of saving face and preserving its theocracy, said diplomats and analysts.

Iran canceled talks with the U.S. on a nuclear deal scheduled for Sunday, but as Israeli attacks intensify, Tehran is signaling it is open to diplomacy. President Trump also has said he wants a deal and the war to end. He confirmed Monday that Iran had reached out through intermediaries.

"They'd like to talk, but they should have done that before," Trump said at a Group of Seven summit of industrial countries in Canada. Trump later said he would leave the G-7 meeting one day early to deal with the crisis in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations, worried about a possible regional war, have been lobbying Trump to pressure the Israelis to halt their campaign. Iran says it is ready to return to the negotiating table if Israel pauses its attacks.

"In the future, if the aggression stops, it is obvious that the ground will be prepared for a return to diplomacy," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign diplomats Sunday in Tehran.

But an Israeli official said Monday that Trump hadn't pressured the Israelis to halt their military campaign. "Trump isn't telling us to stop," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

While Iran has been weakened by the attacks, it remains unclear how much it is willing to compromise on the circumstances or substance of negotiations.