- There are those in Tehran who are convinced that there will be a war with the United States. So now it's either about avoiding the war by showing the United States what it's going to cost them to wage a war against Iran, or it's preparing for such a war by scaring away America's closest allies in the region, says Rouzbeh Parzi, Middle East expert and Head of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Foreign Policy Institute, when he participated in Aktuellt on Monday night.

Downward spiral

President Donald Trump said Monday that he wanted Saudi Arabia to answer who was behind the attack.

- When they then clearly stated that it is Iran behind, the ball lies with Trump again. He now has to decide how far he is willing to go and what makes him and the Pentagon cautious is because you know that if you make an attack on Iran there is absolutely nothing to suggest that Iran would not respond and then this is a spiral that no one has control over, he says.

Lower level probing possible

He believes that the talks that may take place will not occur at the level that Donald Trump envisions.

- He thinks of something similar to that of North Korea, where he gets to meet the highest leader, Iran will not agree to this, but can imagine a probe at a lower level. But they don't trust Trump at all given what he did with the last deal.