BBC Expert Warns Against Trumps Iran War Claims

A BBC expert has demolished Donald Trump’s claim that the Iranian leadership is in crisis and desperate for a deal to end the war.

The US president said on Thursday that the regime in Tehran “is in turmoil”.

Speaking in the Oval Office he said: “I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now.”

But Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s corporation’s chief international correspondent, insisted Trump was wrong.

She told Radio 4′s Today programme: “The general assessment is very much not the one that President Trump is presenting, saying that the leadership is in turmoil [and] he’s waiting for them to have a unified position.

“I think the most experienced Iran watchers would say that there’s always been fierce debate within the Iranian system between those who are regarded as pragmatists and those who are regarded as the hardliners.

“But at the very top, on the issues which matter, and that includes the nuclear programme, the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, there is consensus on how they want to deal with the United States, what are their red lines.”

Doucet insisted that the current ceasefire in the war – which Trump extended earlier this week – does not indicate that a deal is close.

She said: “Both sides are indicating that they are not in a rush to make a deal, both sides are saying that they are not going to back down.

“That is bad news for those that want a deal, and certainly bad news for everyone everywhere who are affected by this standoff.”

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