Iran's government leaders are trying to navigate the very uncertain and unpredictable environment created by the United States' constant bombastic threats and alternating statements about an agreement being imminent. This has led to a lack of trust and confusion among Iranian policymakers, making it difficult for them to make decisions about how to respond to the United States.
We get an update on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran from journalist Negar Mortazavi, following the Pentagon's self-defense strikes on two Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz Monday despite an official ceasefire and ongoing peace negotiations.
The chaotic ceasefire has been violated from day one, says Mortazavi, who notes that Israel's continuous attacks on southern Lebanon are delaying attempts to end the war - and that this is exactly the intention of the Israeli government. Clearly, Netanyahu doesn't want this war with Iran to end, she says. Every step of escalation is definitely going to harm the final outcome and narrow the path to a final agreement.
Mortazavi also comments on the new political reality for Iran's Gulf neighbors in the aftermath of Iranian strikes on U.S. military bases hosted in the region. The Iranian message is: If war comes to us, it will not stay inside our borders. The U.S. attacked southern Iran Sunday in what the Pentagon called self-defense strikes. The U.S. sank two Iranian ships, claiming they were attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it shot down a U.S. Reaper drone that entered Iranian airspace. It comes as Iranian negotiators traveled to Qatar to discuss a potential ceasefire deal to end the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. This is Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson speaking Monday.
It is true that we have reached a conclusion regarding a large part of the topics under discussion, but to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent, no one can make such a claim, for the same reasons you mentioned yourself, because policymaking and decision-making in America have become caught in a kind of institutionalized instability. This comes as President Trump warned Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, posting on social media Monday night, The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!
) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission. Over the weekend, President Trump also urged countries in the region - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan - to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, as part of U.S. negotiations to reach a deal with Iran.
On Friday, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced she's resigning. In a statement, Gabbard said she's stepping down after her husband was diagnosed with bone cancer. , senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Negar, thanks so much for being with us.
Can you talk about these latest developments? Can you talk about the U.S. bombing southern Iran, and yet they're both saying, Iran and the United States, that they're in the middle of negotiations? What's happening? So, yes, I mean, the U.S. and Iran are in the middle of ongoing talks for a peace deal, which seems to be as close as it ever was throughout this war.
I mean, I'm hearing from sources on both sides that they're very close to the finish line, in fact, as far as trying to be flexible and making concessions on both sides. And there is also a ceasefire, an ongoing ceasefire. It's been ongoing for weeks. It has been murky.
It has been chaotic. It has been violated from day one. Israel violated the ceasefire, attacking Lebanon. And there have been other sort of back-and-forths.
And now Iran is accusing the U.S. of violating the ceasefire again. I mean, we have to remember Iran - when we talk about the Strait of Hormuz, this is right off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. And the U.S. has a blockade on top of that strait, very close to the Iranian coast, trying to block Iranian ports, trying to block Iranian ships.
So, the U.S. presence there, from the viewpoint of the Iranians, in itself is hostile, is seen as part of sort of this act of war. And the conflict, the Iranians are definitely seeing it as a violation of sort of that ceasefire and war escalation from the U.S. side.
I don't think it will necessarily unravel that peace process or completely destroy the ceasefire, but, you know, every step of escalation is definitely going to harm the final outcome and narrow the path to a final agreement. And, Negar, what do - from what you can tell, what do government leaders in Iran make of this alternating, as they say, institutionalized instability on the U.S. part, with Trump making constant bombastic threats, at the same time then alternating to say that an agreement is imminent?
Well, first of all, confusion, Juan, and then also a lack of trust. I mean, this is a recurring line I keep hearing from sources in Tehran over and over and over, that they have no trust in this administration. I mean, take a step back and think about it.
If you're a policymaker in Iran, and you're trying to make decisions about how to respond to the United States, and you don't know what the United States is going to do next, that's a very difficult position to be in. And so, I think that's what's happening here. The Iranian government is trying to navigate this very uncertain and unpredictable environment, and it's making it very difficult for them to make decisions about how to proceed.
And, you know, I think that's what's driving the Iranian government's decision-making right now. They're trying to figure out what the United States is going to do next, and how they can respond to that. And, you know, I think that's what's driving the Iranian government's decision-making right now
U.S.-Israeli War On Iran Pentagon's Self-Defense Strikes Iranian Ships In The Strait Of Hormuz Ceasefire Deal Iranian Negotiators In Qatar President Trump's Warning To Iran Tulsi Gabbard's Resignation Iranian Government's Decision-Making
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