Berliner Boersenzeitung - Iran downplays Trump victory but wary of US policy change

EUR -
AED 3.96514
AFN 73.409752
ALL 98.644003
AMD 418.034594
ANG 1.945075
AOA 985.095023
ARS 1072.79979
AUD 1.618389
AWG 1.945892
AZN 1.837308
BAM 1.961928
BBD 2.179106
BDT 128.972844
BGN 1.955713
BHD 0.406969
BIF 3125.30292
BMD 1.079552
BND 1.431819
BOB 7.484099
BRL 6.166075
BSD 1.079271
BTN 91.06306
BWP 14.409474
BYN 3.531999
BYR 21159.218387
BZD 2.175414
CAD 1.496189
CDF 3092.916321
CHF 0.942235
CLF 0.037465
CLP 1033.768578
CNY 7.710271
CNH 7.685649
COP 4671.13496
CRC 551.412109
CUC 1.079552
CUP 28.608127
CVE 113.419839
CZK 25.260446
DJF 191.857748
DKK 7.458004
DOP 65.258909
DZD 144.142828
EGP 53.189415
ERN 16.193279
ETB 131.219373
FJD 2.416794
FKP 0.82604
GBP 0.831962
GEL 2.941797
GGP 0.82604
GHS 17.710092
GIP 0.82604
GMD 77.150714
GNF 9317.613211
GTQ 8.329016
GYD 225.786875
HKD 8.389743
HNL 27.035399
HRK 7.437066
HTG 141.982163
HUF 404.734938
IDR 16804.143854
ILS 4.016144
IMP 0.82604
INR 91.002289
IQD 1414.213066
IRR 45454.534623
ISK 148.28762
JEP 0.82604
JMD 170.803501
JOD 0.765726
JPY 165.19088
KES 139.262229
KGS 93.057135
KHR 4393.776975
KMF 492.221943
KPW 971.596519
KRW 1494.75304
KWD 0.331055
KYD 0.899376
KZT 530.47728
LAK 23679.972611
LBP 96673.878007
LKR 315.784646
LRD 204.412873
LSL 19.043336
LTL 3.187636
LVL 0.65301
LYD 5.230454
MAD 10.677871
MDL 19.35574
MGA 4987.530126
MKD 61.530267
MMK 3506.34265
MNT 3668.317585
MOP 8.639866
MRU 43.090331
MUR 50.145599
MVR 16.624536
MWK 1874.102624
MXN 21.457928
MYR 4.753806
MZN 68.988758
NAD 19.043356
NGN 1815.298696
NIO 39.700505
NOK 11.726055
NPR 145.700695
NZD 1.793233
OMR 0.415638
PAB 1.079231
PEN 4.066137
PGK 4.332512
PHP 62.875804
PKR 300.000733
PLN 4.314363
PYG 8377.088066
QAR 3.930487
RON 4.975976
RSD 116.995252
RUB 105.796062
RWF 1468.190664
SAR 4.054929
SBD 8.996891
SCR 15.206543
SDG 649.340799
SEK 11.558004
SGD 1.426342
SHP 0.82604
SLE 24.504136
SLL 22637.661342
SOS 616.424282
SRD 37.735759
STD 22344.545935
SVC 9.443497
SYP 2712.406972
SZL 19.043675
THB 36.73704
TJS 11.472208
TMT 3.789227
TND 3.353358
TOP 2.528416
TRY 36.975953
TTD 7.320663
TWD 34.67416
TZS 2903.994994
UAH 44.619769
UGX 3961.373269
USD 1.079552
UYU 44.870151
UZS 13818.265295
VEF 3910733.683427
VES 47.199466
VND 27382.835428
VUV 128.16661
WST 3.024024
XAF 657.987832
XAG 0.032004
XAU 0.000397
XCD 2.917543
XDR 0.809198
XOF 659.069514
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.699096
ZAR 18.683649
ZMK 9717.278915
ZMW 29.24727
ZWL 347.61529
  • BCC

    0.6450

    142.405

    +0.45%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.81

    -0.49%

  • RYCEF

    -0.2300

    7.15

    -3.22%

  • SCS

    -0.0650

    12.995

    -0.5%

  • GSK

    0.5900

    36.49

    +1.62%

  • RIO

    2.2550

    67.585

    +3.34%

  • JRI

    0.1200

    13.37

    +0.9%

  • BTI

    -0.1200

    35.52

    -0.34%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.3

    -0.11%

  • CMSD

    0.0550

    24.905

    +0.22%

  • BCE

    -1.0600

    27.68

    -3.83%

  • RBGPF

    2.1700

    63.17

    +3.44%

  • CMSC

    0.0800

    24.59

    +0.33%

  • BP

    0.0350

    30.195

    +0.12%

  • AZN

    0.3100

    64.16

    +0.48%

  • RELX

    -0.1150

    47.595

    -0.24%

Iran downplays Trump victory but wary of US policy change
Iran downplays Trump victory but wary of US policy change / Photo: ATTA KENARE - AFP/File

Iran downplays Trump victory but wary of US policy change

After Donald Trump's re-election, Iran has projected indifference, officially stating it expects no fundamental shift in US policy, especially on sanctions or the Middle East's wars.

Text size:

However, Trump is set to return to the White House in January -- after defeating US Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday's election -- at a delicate time for Tehran whose allies in the region have suffered severe blows in conflicts with Israel.

Trump's victory came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.

That war has now spread to Lebanon, where Israel is battling Hezbollah, another ally of Iran which itself has now twice launched attacks on Israel, in April and October, using drones and missiles.

"Iran traditionally takes a 'wait and see' approach following the election of a new American president," said John Ghazvinian, who authored a book on US-Iran history.

He says the method of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say in all state matters, is to observe "what concrete actions the new administration takes (or doesn't take) as an indication of its approach to Iran."

During his first term from 2017, Trump pursued a "maximum pressure" strategy of punishing sanctions on Iran, driving tensions between the long-time adversaries to new heights.

In December 2017 he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the following year moved the American embassy there. Trump also recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed.

"Trump has already crossed the red line that existed in the relations between Iran and the United States, as well as in the region itself," said foreign policy analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour.

Given the current tensions around the region and his history of foreign policy, the risk he poses "is greater for Iran's interest" compared to Democrats, he added.

- 'Wrong policies' -

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday said, "It makes no difference to us who won the US election."

Quoted by the official IRNA news agency, Pezeshkian added that Iran has prioritised "developing relations with Islamic and neighbouring countries."

Iran also called Trump's victory an opportunity for the US to reassess past "wrong policies".

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, also quoted by IRNA, said his country has "very bitter experiences with the policies and approaches of different US governments in the past."

In 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, and reimposed harsh sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Under his presidency in 2020, the United States killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qasem Soleimani in an air strike on Baghdad airport.

On Tuesday, Trump told reporters he was "not looking to do damage to Iran."

"My terms are very easy. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I'd like them to be a very successful country," he said after he cast his ballot.

Iran has always denied any ambition to develop a nuclear weapons capability, insisting its activities are entirely peaceful.

But it gradually suspended its compliance with caps on nuclear activities after the US pullout from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Pezeshkian, who took office in Iran in July, favoured reviving that agreement and called for ending his country's isolation.

Last month, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect nuclear talks with the United States, via Oman, had stopped because of regional tensions.

Ghazvinian said that "ending Iran's isolation will simply not be an agenda" for Trump.

"A Trump administration is likely to pursue provocative, escalatory moves aimed at crushing or collapsing the Islamic Republic," he said.

- 'Take advantage' -

Political expert Foad Izadi said ending the war in Gaza and Lebanon will likely continue to "not be a priority" for the United States.

"I don't think they're interested in a ceasefire anytime soon," he said.

Iran has been pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and Pezeshkian on Sunday said a potential deal "could affect the intensity" of Tehran's response to Israel's strikes on its territory.

On October 26, Israel conducted air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack on Israel, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards general.

Tehran has vowed to respond despite Israel's warning against it.

"The general policies of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran are fixed," Iran's government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said before Trump's victory.

On Thursday, Iranian newspapers featured varied headlines, with the ultraconservative daily Kayhan branding the US as "the Great Satan, regardless of who the president is."

The reformist Ham Mihan criticised in an editorial those saying the US election makes no difference.

Politicians the world over will have "to improve their understanding of his policies" and "take advantage of this situation for the benefit of their countries' national interests," read the editorial.

Iran "should not be an exception this," it added.

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)