"Iran Studies Trump's 'Art of the Deal' to Decipher U.S. Strategy"

Iranian diplomats have been reading U.S. President Donald Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," to counter his negotiation tactics aimed at unsettling his counterparts, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on June 23 (local time).

On June 21, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and head of the Iranian negotiating team, declared a suspension of talks after being informed of President Trump's threats to attack Iran during a meeting in Switzerland.

However, it was reported that even after leaving the negotiation room, Iran continued to communicate with the U.S. indirectly through mediators.

This indicates that they were aware of the true meaning behind President Trump's threatening remarks.

The Wall Street Journal reported, "Iranian diplomats say they are reading 'The Art of the Deal,' the 1987 book written by Mr. Trump, because of his unique style."

In the book, President Trump described his negotiation techniques from his days as a real estate mogul, writing that one should make extreme and unpredictable demands to unsettle the opponent and extract concessions.

According to some mediators, the Iranian negotiating team has been consulting with a team of psychology experts to understand President Trump's mindset and attempt to predict his public reactions to Iran's proposals.

Political analysts and mediators assess that, perhaps thanks to this psychological insight, President Trump's "loud protests" have yet to extract any concessions from Iran, the newspaper noted.

Mohammad Amersi, an Iran expert and member of the international advisory board at the Wilson Center, a U.S. think tank, said, "Trump is applying 'The Art of the Deal' by making extreme threats to test the resolve of his opponent," adding, "But the Iranians are well aware of his tactics. That will not change the dynamics."

In early April, President Trump threatened to bomb Iranian power plants and even warned that "the entire civilization of (Iran) would be destroyed."

At the time, the U.S. was demanding a 45-day ceasefire, but Iran, concerned that the U.S. and Israel would reinforce their military capabilities during this period, sought to shorten the duration of the truce.

According to Iranian officials, Iran decided to ignore these threats from President Trump, viewing them as negotiation tactics, and as a result, they succeeded in securing their desired 15-day short-term ceasefire.

It appears that President Trump is indeed employing the "destabilization tactic" he described in "The Art of the Deal."

Last April, after issuing a profanity-laced warning for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, he reportedly told an aide that he wanted to appear as unstable as possible to draw Iran to the negotiating table.

However, the WSJ explained that because of these tactics by President Trump, pragmatic officials within Iran are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade hardliners that "the U.S. will keep its promises."

A representative example occurred in mid-April, when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared that the Strait of Hormuz had been fully opened following a ceasefire in Lebanon. Just minutes later, President Trump threatened that the U.S. naval blockade would continue, prompting the Iranian military to use this as a pretext to retract Minister Araghchi's statement.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.