Trump needs to end negotiating with Iran

President Trump appears to be getting the wrong signals from negotiations being currently conducted with Iran.

On the one hand Trump announced:

“I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call with President Mohammed bin Salman Ai Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Ai Nahyan, of the UAE, Emir Tanim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Ai Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of Turkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all things related to a memorandum or understanding pertaining to PEACE”.

On the other hand the following report of the negotiations a few hours earlier revealed:

BREAKING | Iran: no deal is close, nuclear issues off the table for now

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that Pakistan’s army chief’s visit represents a continuation of diplomacy, and not a breakthrough.

He also confirmed a Qatari delegation met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today.

On the state of talks: “We cannot say we have reached a point where a deal is close. No, it is not like that. The focus of these negotiations is on ending the war. At this stage, nuclear-related topics are not on the agenda.”

On Qatar and diplomacy: “Some countries are trying to offer their good offices to help end the war and prevent escalation, which we value, but our official mediator is Pakistan.”

 On nuclear rights: “We are members of the NPT and have the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. We have stated our positions on highly enriched uranium very clearly.”

 On why nuclear talks are deferred: “If we try to discuss these topics at this stage, we will not reach a result. We went down this road before; the differences were so great we could not reach an agreement, and the other side destroyed the negotiating table with its unreasonable demands and committed a crime by attacking Iran.”

The fact that “nuclear-related topics are not on the agenda” – if correct – would make further negotiations with Iran irrelevant since the purpose of the America-Israel war begun against Iran on 28 February was to prevent Iran imminently attaching a nuclear warhead to its medium and longer range ballistic missiles to bring death to America and Israel.

Iran has already shown the threat its medium range ballistic missiles can be to Israel in directly attacking Israel in:

 April 2024

• The Trigger: In retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed high-ranking officers, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel.
• The Attack: Iran fired over 300 ballistic missiles and suicide drones.

 

October 2024

• The Trigger: Following Israeli assassinations of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran launched a second direct barrage.
• The Attack: Iran fired roughly 200 ballistic missiles directly into Israel, utilizing advanced models like the Fattah-1 and Kheibar Shekan.

 

June 2025 (The Twelve-Day War)

• The Trigger: Diplomatic breakdowns and Israel’s pre-emptive bombings of Iranian nuclear and missile production facilities.
• The Attack: Iran retaliated by firing a massive wave of over 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 suicide drones in nightly counterattacks.

 

Any negotiated agreement between America and Iran which does not herald the end of Iran’s nuclear –related capacity is only postponing the inevitable – when America may not then be in the strong negotiating and military position it presently is.

It is Iran’s jugular now – or possibly never.

 

The author has a Facebook page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”

Author’s note: The cartoon was published on 19 July 2015 by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” – one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – who passed away on 14 April 2025 and whose cartoons graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network