U. S. President Donald Trump may have a tougher time bringing Iran to the table with the kind of brazen military threats he levelled against North Korea.<\/b>
\nU. S. President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with \u201cfire and fury\u201d last August, in a bellicose threat aimed at dictator Kim Jong Un, whom the president derided as \u201cLittle Rocket Man.\u201d
Ten months later, Trump and Kim were all smiles as they met for a historic face-to-face summit in Singapore, after which the president claimed to have a \u201cspecial bond\u201d with North Korea\u2019s dictator.
If Trump is expecting the same kind of military threats to bring a similar turnaround with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll be disappointed.
READ MORE:
Donald Trump warns Iran to \u2018never threaten\u2019 U. S. or \u2018you will suffer consequences\u2019
Trump blasted Rouhani in an all-caps rant on Twitter late Sunday night, after Rouhani publicly addressed looming U. S. oil sanctions.
\u201cAmerica must understand that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,\u201d Rouhani said Sunday.
\u201cNEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE,\u201d Trump tweeted later that night, in a tweet addressed to Rouhani.
READ MORE:
Iran president warns Donald Trump of \u2018mother of all wars\u2019
But while both sides sound like they\u2019re spoiling for a fight, experts say neither has an appetite for military conflict. Iran doesn\u2019t have nuclear weapons to use for its defence, while Washington is likely to shy away from any undertaking that resembles the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In other words, neither the U. S. nor Iran wants to call the other\u2019s bluff on the battlefield.
WATCH BELOW: Trump suggests cancelled Iran deal has advanced Middle East Peace Plan
Prominent Iranian analyst Seed Leilaz downplayed the war of words on Monday, saying he thinks it was \u201cthe storm before the calm.\u201d
Leilaz told The Associated Press (AP) he was not \u201cworried about the remarks and tweets,\u201d and that \u201cneither Iran, nor any other country is interested in escalating tensions in the region.\u201d
Nevertheless, Lebanese analyst Kamel Wazne says both sides must exercise caution to avoid forcing a confrontation.
\u201cIran has said very clearly that any war with them will be very costly, and that means American bases throughout the region could be a target,\u201d he said.
WATCH BELOW: Rouhani warns U. S. of \u2018mother of all wars\u2019
Iran has faced increased U. S. pressure since Trump\u2019s decision in May to withdraw the United States from the multilateral nuclear deal signed in 2015, which sought to freeze Tehran\u2019s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
The deal opened Iran up to foreign investment, but Trump slammed the door on that progress by de-certifying the deal and promising to re-impose sanctions.
READ MORE:
Giuliani says end is near for Iran\u2019s leaders, slams countries who supported nuclear deal
With the economic pressure, Trump said earlier this month that \u201cat a certain point they\u2019re going to call me and say \u2018let\u2019s make a deal,\u2019 and we\u2019ll make a deal.\u201d
Wazne says Iran can\u2019t trust the U. S. after Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal.
On Sunday, Rouhani suggested Iran could immediately ramp up its production of uranium in response to U. S. pressure. Potentially that would escalate the very situation the nuclear deal sought to avoid \u2014 an Iran with a stockpile of enriched uranium that could lead to making atomic bombs.
WATCH BELOW: \u2018Don\u2019t play with the lion\u2019s tail,\u2019 Rouhani warns Trump
However, Iran isn\u2019t nearly as close to launching a nuclear weapon as North Korea, making it less of an immediate military priority.
Rouhani also doesn\u2019t have the same power as Kim to single-handedly shift his country\u2019s foreign policy. The Iranian president is beholden to a nation run by religious and political elites, with\u00a0Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at its head.
READ MORE:
Iran official hints at leaving nuclear deal, demands assurances after U. S. withdrawal
Those elites have temporarily rallied around Rouhani in the face of Trump\u2019s threats, but that solidarity is unlikely to last forever.
Rouhani\u2019s hardline rivals oppose the nuclear deal he signed with Western nations in 2015, and would likely celebrate its demise if it meant isolating Iran from outside influences.
Supreme Leader Khamenei on Saturday ruled out negotiations with the United States as an \u201cobvious mistake.\u201d
It all means Rouhani can\u2019t simply strike a president-to-president deal with Trump, no matter how hard Trump tries to bully him into doing so.
READ MORE:
Stephen Harper, former world leaders praise Donald Trump\u2019s Iran decision in NYT ad
\u2014 With files from Reuters and The Associated Press<\/p>\n