The second round of U.S.-Iran talks ended in Geneva with mixed messages and the prospect of another round of negotiations, while on the ground, military posturing is taking place.
Vice President JD Vance confirmed that the results of the talks were mixed.
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He stated on YouTube, “In some ways, it went well. They agreed to meet afterwards. But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Vance revealed that they’ll keep working on the talks, but it’s up to President Trump to decide when it’s enough. Trump wants Iran to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons and stop enriching uranium.
“It’s one of the most hostile and also one of the most irrational regimes in the world,” the president noted. “You can’t have people like that have the most dangerous weapon known to man. It would be awful for our security. It would be awful for the future of our children.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced they reached an agreement on the “guiding principles” for a deal. He said a “new window of opportunity” had opened that they hoped would lead to a “sustainable and negotiated solution,” but he insisted Tehran would not give up on uranium enrichment.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons explicitly recognizes the inalienable right of all state parties to develop, research, produce, and use nuclear energy, including enrichment for peaceful purposes,” Araghchi said. “This right is inherent, non-negotiable, and legally binding.”
Alex Traiman of the Jewish News Syndicate tells CBN News that the Iranians are master negotiators.
“This negotiation tactic, they’re trying to stall the president every single day that this armada of military equipment is in the Persian Gulf, costing the United States billions of dollars. So they are trying to drag out the negotiations as long as possible, hoping that the longer they drag out, the less likely it is that Trump would actually order a military strike,” Traiman observed.
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THE USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, is on its way to the region to join the USS Abraham Lincoln, and more than 50 fighter jets arrived in the region during the last day or so.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened to send one of the ships to the bottom of the sea. Later, the regime announced it had temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz as it conducted live fire exercises this week.
Traiman believes the Iranian tactics are not about military might, but they signal how Iran might affect the world economy.
“About 20 percent of global oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz,” Traiman explained. “And Iran is taking an aggressive tone, showing that it has leverage in negotiations, as well, while the president has sent a massive armada over to the Persian Gulf in order to threaten Iran into making a negotiated deal. Iran is saying we can make global oil prices spike very, very quickly, something that would definitely harm Trump.”
Inside Iran, the people marked forty days since the brutal crackdown against anti-regime protesters.