SECURE STRAITS

“In the case of President Trump, you know, you and I have talked before about his negotiating style. He likes to carry a big stick. He weighs it initially. He then uses it. And then, of course, he very quickly pivots to, you know, you can have peace if you'll just make the right deal. Everything is about the art of the deal, isn't it?”

“I think we would have to assume that they're non-negotiable or it's going to be anything about regime change or human rights within Iran. They're going to want to be absolutely sure that they can maintain control in Iran. The other three files—nuclear, missiles, and proxies—are different, but regime survival is hardline.”

“The nuclear file, I think it's entirely possible that the Iranians will be willing to agree to most of what the United States is asking for on the nuclear file because, you know, this is the one area where it's obvious that the US will not be willing to compromise. So we might look to see whether they've actually moved towards the idea that they would have to accept an end to their nuclear program.”

“The newly appointed Iranian ambassador in Lebanon, the Lebanese have withdrawn their agreement to his appointment, and he is to stay even though he's not being given credentials by the government of Lebanon. Now it's an extraordinary statement that Lebanon is not a sovereign country and that the sovereignty in Lebanon is possessed by the Iranians.”

“I think that we saw a very strong statement from Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, saying that the coalition would always come together and it would support the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And in a way, the Iranians have helped us in this respect, because closing international waters is obviously against international law.”