Tehran, June 15 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump’s “re-election chances are still more that 50 percent,” says Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.  The top Iranian diplomat made the comments in an interview on Instagram over the weekend, more than a week after the U.S. president pledged to Tehran that he would win the 2020 presidential election.

"The biggest mistake in human sciences is to predict, especially in fluid and grave conditions. But allow me to venture a prediction that Mr. Trump's re-election chances are still more that 50 percent," Zarif said.  "But Mr. Trump has a 30-35% base that has not moved and, as long as this base does not move, there is still a chance of his re-election.”

The Iranian foreign minister advised the Trump administration to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal after the failure of its pressure campaign against Tehran.  He further suggested that the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against police brutality and racism could slim Trump’s chances.  "Of course his chances have seriously decreased compared to four to five months ago."

In a tweet issued on June 5, Trump called on Iran not to wait for the next administration for what he called “the Big deal” with Washington.  “Don’t wait until after US Election to make the Big deal. I’m going to win. You’ll make a better deal now!”

The Republican president unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.

Iran rules out the possibility of any dialog with the United States as long as the latter pursues a policy of economic terrorism through imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The president’s call for negotiations runs counter to his administration’s “maximum pressure” against the Iranian nation.  Tehran has time and again asserted that Washington must return to the 2015 deal if it wants a seat at the negotiating table.