President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sen. John Kennedy, Rep. Jim Himes

21:51Oil goes up to$120 a barrel. Diesel, already at record highs, goes to$8 a gallon. And guess what? Mike Lawler and Ashley Hinson lose their elections, right? And so the Iranians are not stupid people. They've been negotiating literally for thousands of years, and they understand that they now have a massive impact on what happens in November simply because they control the flow of oil and fertilizer and other stuff out of the strait. So do you think they're giving up that position before the election? Of course they're not.

22:21Margaret Brennan:Well, a lot of what they asked for, the president had already agreed to back in June in that MOU that failed. But I want to ask to be at another big meeting this week, and that was in Washington between she and Trump. The White House said afterwards that the countries would set up a bilateral communications channel for artificial intelligence incidents. Do you consider this in any way a step forward? Yeah, of course it's a step forward. I mean, it's not something that came out of the pageantry of the last five days, right? Scott Besson had set this up weeks before the actual visit of President Xi occurred.

22:59And look, we all know, because we can read and watch TV, that nothing significant came out of this. But look, when you have a situation as important as the relationships between Beijing and Washington, simply talking is a win in and of itself. So again, we all know that nothing terribly meaningful came out of this conversation. And look, Xi himself is waiting for 37 days when he will now face a president of the United States who has been rebuked by his own people, who will be in a much weaker position of political leadership than he is today. So, you know, President Xi wasn't going to make a commitment any more than the Iranian regime was.

23:40But like I said, let's not be too harsh. Anytime we're talking to the Chinese and stopping misunderstandings and making incremental progress on things like AI or not starting another trade war, you know, it's a valuable couple of days.

23:53Margaret Brennan:Congressman Himes, always good to have you with us. Thanks for your time today. Base Nation will be back in a moment. Stay with us. Dumb Blonde is where we talk about all the things everybody else is thinking, but is too scared to say out loud. I'm Bunny XO, and every week I'm sitting down for real unfiltered conversations with guests like Dolly Parton, Machine Gun Kelly, Denise Richards. Plus, you never know what's going to come out during Ask, Tell, Confess. We laugh, we overshare, and maybe heal a little along the way. Follow and listen to Dumb Blonde wherever you get podcasts.

24:34Margaret Brennan:Welcome back to Face the Nation. Here's more of our conversation with the president of Iran, Masoud Pazeshkin. There is now a new supreme leader. How often do you consult with him and what decisions has he made? You see, thus far I have met with a supreme leader on two occasions. We've had encounters. What did you ask him for? Did you ask his permission to come here to America? Well, see, coming to America doesn't necessarily require a permission, as you put it. We have informed them that we are coming. Our trips are at the volition of the government. You said you met twice with the Supreme Leader.

25:11Margaret Brennan:You're a doctor by training. You're a physician. What did you make of his recovery from the injuries he sustained in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and his family? No, there's no specific ongoing health issues or challenges.

25:31On the last occasion when we met for seven-plus hours, of course, we were not used to being in seated positions for those many hours.

25:40We changed angles and positions, we crossed our legs and so on. But of course, he was healthy enough to be able to withstand those hours of that situation. From a medical standpoint, he's completely healthy. Hear this from me as a physician and accept it. He has no issues. But the Supreme Leader, you said, was able to conduct this meeting.

26:00Margaret Brennan:He has his legs and his face recovered? Yes. He was able to sit on the ground? Did he advise you on this diplomacy? Does he want a deal with the United States? Everything that we spoke of and about and had discussions about was shaped through coordination.

26:27There is a team that has been put in place in Iran, consisting of six members of various organizations, security forces, parliamentary representatives, government agencies, and they sit and conduct talks, consultations about decision-making processes and reach any decisions through coordination. This has taken place quite comfortably in our country.

26:51Margaret Brennan:Your oil exports are blockaded. Your foreign accounts are frozen for Iran. Inflation has skyrocketed. Iran's economy is under so many sanctions. You ran on trying to improve the economy for everyday people. At what point does all of this financial pain become too much and you have to make concessions to the United States? With the imposed sanctions, if they block access to food and medication, who are they truly targeting?

27:27The sick, the elderly, the indignant, the downtrodden? They claim that they're proponents of human rights. They think about humanity. If they're at war with us or non-civilians, what business do these people have with civilians? What the US is committing is a war crime. What we do in our country we know. For the news that you're distributing and the reports that you share, it's not a true reflection of reality.

27:56Right now our people are living with dignity. They are enduring hardship.

28:01Margaret Brennan:But respectfully, the world powers, not just the United States, are saying they could lift some of those sanctions if only Iran chooses, your government chooses to go in a different direction and give up any ambition to have a nuclear weapon. That's the cost. So are we at that point where those concessions need to be made? where Iran says, I will not in the future pursue a weapon and allow an inspector and give up. Are you aware of the previous conversations that we've conducted? When did we ever say that we are seeking nuclear weapons? They have martyred a supreme leader that according to his clerical decree...

28:48Margaret Brennan:Iran has always said you're not seeking a nuclear weapon. Intelligent agencies. Developing nuclear weapons is haram. from a standpoint of belief, not from a legal perspective. Even if some individuals in Iran may have the incentive to develop nuclear weapons, religiously speaking, they are not allowed to pursue that path. America came and killed it. We were sitting and talking and we had reached an agreement. Why did they attack? America's intention is not to resolve the issue. America's intention is to overthrow our administration. Israel says it in their own speech. What they're doing is neutralising the government, not negotiating.

29:26Margaret Brennan:But your job is to improve the lives for the Iranian people. Yes, we are doing everything humanly possible, but not through bullying and coercion intended to force us into submission. We're already negotiating. Why are they concurrently attacking us? According to what logic do they have the right to do so? We're negotiating. Why did they attack us? What sin did we commit for them to attack us? The UN Human Rights Council says there are grounds to believe that US airstrikes were responsible for hitting that girls' school in Minab that killed some of the children that you have referred to here. That very same report, though, says Iran's guilty of crimes against humanity for violent crackdowns on your own people, on your own protesters.

30:13Margaret Brennan:Do you accept all of those findings? The speech given by Mr Trump, your own president, in which he admitted to arming instigators to take to the streets, have you heard of it or not heard of it? When they cause sanctions, when they cause social upheavals, problems and sanctions, poverty grows in one place. Then they hire these people and they have armed some of them. More than 500 security and military forces in a demonstration. Apparently they say it was a simple demonstration. In what demonstration 500 security and military forces get murdered?

30:56They were attempting a coup. When that coup attempt failed, they imposed the 40-day war. It's the same people who are in the streets. Those people who are in this way, if these people are really seeking human rights, in Gaza, with the support of the US, they have killed 70 ,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. They're doing this in Lebanon. Where is human rights? What is the awakened consciousness of the world doing?

31:27Margaret Brennan:You said publicly, you apologise. You said we are ashamed before the people. We are obligated to assist all of those who were harmed in those incidents. You saw what happened in your own country as wrong. That's the way that sounds. How those protesters were treated. The issue is how we should have dealt with this. if we had handled it correctly perhaps we would not have allowed those who had taken up arms to come to the streets

31:57because in the midst of all of this some innocent people were killed there were people who were genuinely protesting but those who were carrying weapons in the streets had mixed in with them and they started the fighting began destroying things and killed members of the military these were no longer ordinary people and it was in the course of all of this ultimately a problem occurred that should not have occurred

32:19Margaret Brennan:There are two Americans determined to be wrongfully detained in Iran. One of them is a journalist in Evin prison. His name is Reza Valizadeh. Why not release the Americans as a sign of goodwill towards the United States to rebuild the trust you say that is lost? Do you think by setting them free, we can rebuild trust? Do you think the United States of America is genuinely interested in solving problems with us? Why then does it bomb us in the middle of negotiations? Why does it come and kill our scientists, officials and people? Why not test it? Test it, we've done it. Make a gesture to President.

32:58We have done it. Before that, the United States had several of these prisoners and we released them. The understanding was that they would release our money. We did our part. Several of the people that they had asked for were released. The money came from South Korea and Qatar was supposed to transfer it to us. When we did our part, the United States did not follow through. We tested it, but it didn't work. The United States gets what it wants and then it doesn't honour its commitment. That's the situation we have today. In other words, we gave our money, we did what the United States asked us to do, but the United States did not do what it was supposed to do.

33:36Even now, we remain committed. We don't want to fight. But certainly, if they strike us, we will defend ourselves.

33:44Margaret Brennan:Mr. President, I'm told we are out of time. But just to ask you again, would you meet with President Trump? Would you take the extraordinary measure of inviting him to Iran? Something to bring this to a conclusion? Look, first of all, you know what the situation is like in Iran. What they have done to us, to our people, has made people extremely upset. Imagine if someone came into your country and assassinated your president. some of your top officials and your scientists. If you were in our position, what would you do? And yet, here we are. We're still talking, we're still engaging in dialogue and we're still making our demands within the framework of international law.

34:29We're not asking for anything more than that. We're not seeking war. War was imposed on us. They martyred some of the best people in our country. We have put things in writing. We've signed agreements. We've made commitments. Let them implement what they agreed to so that we can have confidence that this process can work. Let them abide by what was written. And then we can sit down closely and resume negotiations.

34:53Margaret Brennan:There are threats against President Trump and his family from Iran as well. But how do you move on? How do you get to a deal? Look, look, if in Iran, think if something happens to the family. We in the government do not want to dominate. If we intended to do so, we wouldn't be sitting at the negotiating table. We wouldn't have sat together. The fact that some people are saying these things is coming from indignation. They're deeply upset. The supreme leader is not simply a leader of the government, the president or a politician. There are tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of people in the region who believe in and follow our leader.

35:36They martyred our leader. You saw what they did in Iraq and Pakistan. This is a matter of faith. So based on that faith, people can't accept what was done. Hypothetically speaking, let's say in Iran they want to assassinate. From the standpoint of the government, if that were what we intended to do, we would not be sitting at the negotiating table.

36:00Margaret Brennan:But you're saying it's too politically difficult to meet with the president now? Until trust is restored.

36:10As long as they don't cease doing what they're imposing on us every day, it's difficult to trust them. Every day they increase the sanctions against us. Every day they threaten us. Every day they strike us. And they don't honour what they've put in writing. So if they engage in talks, will they actually follow through? They don't honour what they've signed. How can we believe that if we talk, the problem would get resolved?

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37:42Margaret Brennan:We're joined now by the Taiwan representative to the United States, Ambassador Alexander Yu. Good to have you back here. Thank you. Not too bad, Margaret. You were here in May after President Trump visited Beijing, and we discussed that the two leaders did at length discuss Taiwan, according to President Trump at that time. When it came to this meeting this past week, President Trump said Taiwan did come up with Xi, but, quote, we didn't spend a lot of time talking about Taiwan. Do you have any sense what context there was, how Taiwan was discussed? Have you been given any readout? Well, I mean, you've heard many people comment, including President Trump, comment on the question of Taiwan.

38:27He made it clear himself that it was mentioned, but it was not the main topic of discussion. As a matter of fact, during the release statements by both sides on the deliverables or the achievements, Taiwan does not figure in neither side of the papers.

38:49Margaret Brennan:China did say this issue was foundational. Well, it was foundational, but there was no reaction from the US side, which I think, again, during May, President or General Secretary Xi gave an earful of Taiwan to President Trump when he was in Beijing. But during this trip, I think the United States made it very clear that no change in position towards Taiwan. And I think they made it clear during and before and after the visit. Right before the visit, Secretary Rubio met with the foreign ministers of Japan and Korea in UNGA in New York. And they made it very clear that it supported peace, stability of the Taiwan Straits, no coercion, no status quo, and even supported Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, as well as many other countries during UNGA.

39:44But so Taiwan is there's no change in Taiwan's position for the United States.

39:50Margaret Brennan:In May, President Trump said he wanted to speak with your president, President Lai. Did that call ever take place? Well, I'll say that the communications between the two sides, between Taiwan and the United States, is open, is regular and very, very close at different levels. And I'll just leave it at that. But not at the presidential level, which could be provocative. Well, I'll just say that our communications are quite regular and quite open. I want to ask you about the state of play with Taiwan and the tension with Beijing. The unclassified U.S. intelligence community assessment says Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027.

40:31Margaret Brennan:But it also says Beijing will continue setting the conditions for eventual unification short of conflict. What do you need from the U.S. to deter Xi Jinping? Well, this comes back all the way to the mentions of United States President Donald Trump and the Secretary General of China, Xi Jinping, during their visits, during his visit, where both mentioned the historical factors between World War II or the war of Japanese invasion of China during the late 30s, which President Trump highlighted the historical actions, the heroic actions of United States Flying Tigers. But Secretary General Xi wanted to mention that it was, really made a reference that it was the Chinese Communist Party that fought World War II or fought the Japanese.

41:28Margaret Brennan:And that's not correct? That's not correct. Let me show you this. This is the Flying Tigers using our flag. This is our crest. This is the blood chip by which every American pilot, when they flew on missions on the Flying Tigers who wore on the back of their jacket to show if they're down, that Chinese people can help them. That's what those words say. If this pilot goes down, he is an American. This foreigner is here to help us in the war effort. Please help them. And the point you are making, as I understand it, is that the Chinese Communist Party was not running China during World War II. It was actually the very same party that eventually left the mainland and set up a government in Taiwan.

42:17The communist regime did not exist until 1949. During the war, they were guerrillas, barely having any skirmishes against Japanese, if any. And then after they became a people of Republic in 49, a few years afterwards, they were fighting and killing American soldiers in the Korean War. So let's put that into perspective.

42:40Margaret Brennan:Was that offensive to people in Taiwan when they heard the president of the United States It's not correct, Xi Jinping, but accept that claim? President Trump was correct in saying that the Chinese and the Americans fought valiantly in the war. But that was in the context that it was the Republic of China government fighting alongside Xi Jinping. But also the perspective that now because of that is making reference that China and the United States have to fight the new militarism, implying Japan and other countries, for example, the Philippines, or even Taiwan being aggressive, that therefore, that the United States shouldn't sell arms to Taiwan or other.

43:21Margaret Brennan:Exactly. And that's messing, again, twisting the facts, because it is the people of Republic of China who have been the aggressor. They are the ones who are creating all these tensions in the region, the first island chain in the Asia-Pacific. And now Japan is after, currently, they're not the aggressors. Right. And then PRC is trying to drive a wedge between United States and its partners in ALS, which is Japan and Taiwan. But to bring you back to where we started here, what does Taiwan need from the United States? Because one of the things that President Trump referred to as a bargaining chip was this$14 billion weapons package that still has not been delivered to your country despite initial indications it would.

44:04Well, it's just not this purchase or this sale. Actually, it's peace through strength is the best way to avoid any conflict. The notion that China will not attack Taiwan is on the basis that Taiwan is strong. Right. It's, you know, that we're well prepared to fence off against any Chinese aggression.

44:30Margaret Brennan:And there's more than a billion dollars in additional aid that we heard Republican senators, including Tillis, Murkowski, McConnell and Cornyn say. they want to know why the Trump administration is not delivering it. Exactly. Therefore, we want to share our burden of defense or share our burden of doing better at being a better defender of ourselves. And therefore, we need and we're increasing our defense budget and we need to procure arms as necessary. And the United States has been our main supplier of selling weapons to Taiwan. We hope that we can get that weapons as soon as possible. Taiwan is also a huge supplier of computer chips to the rest of the world, 90 percent of the highest level computer chips.

45:16Margaret Brennan:And Mike Gallagher, the former congressman who helped set up the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, wrote an op ed in the journal arguing the biggest threat to humanity is not rogue A.I., but rather A.I. controlled by China. He refers to Taiwan as the single point of failure in the most important technology the Communist Party wants to dominate. How do you shore up defense of those critical industries? Well, that's why Taiwan matters to the United States and to the world. It's not just on the security side, which is part of the first island chain in Asia-Pacific, but also Taiwan has been the relevant partner in terms of technology, in terms of semiconductor especially.

45:58And the United States is creating this huge wave of artificial intelligence development, you know, now superintelligence, this huge wave. And Taiwan is the one making the surfboards, you know, the semiconductors, the AI stacks, the servers, that people will ride on this huge wave. So it's interdependency, symbiotic relationship between United States, Taiwan, and that makes Taiwan very relevant and why it should be protected.

46:32Margaret Brennan:Ambassador, thank you for coming on and explaining the centrality of Taiwan to all of this. We'll be back in a moment. Thank you very much. That's it for us today. Thank you all for watching. Until next week, for Face the Nation, I'm Margaret Brennan. The senior executive producer of Face the Nation is Mary Hager Laird. The executive producer is Ann Hsu. This broadcast was directed by Shelley Schwartz. Face the Nation originates from CBS News in Washington. For more Face the Nation, we're online at facethenation.com and on YouTube. Face the Nation is also rebroadcast on our CBS News 24-7 streaming network at 1230 on Sundays.

47:13Margaret Brennan:It's available through our Paramount Plus app. A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes. Because no one's story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR.