In short
Trump’s push for Iran-US talks in Pakistan (Islamabad) fails to produce agreement, amid claims about naval/maritime blockade, ceasefire conditions, and conflicting public messaging; the episode also references Lebanon ceasefire tensions and a Mexico US-officials death incident.
Guests
No guests are named in the provided transcript.
Key claims
Trump is “begging” Iran to negotiate and sending intermediaries (J.D. Vance, Whitkoff, Kushner) while Iran refuses unless US preconditions are met. Pakistan is said to be confident it can get Iran to attend. Iran says the US Persian Gulf blockade is a “threshold” obstacle and accuses the US of contradictory, non-diplomatic behavior.
Notable examples
Iran’s President Pazeshkian and Foreign Minister Aragchi public statements; Aragchi calling Russia’s Lavrov about monitoring US behavior; Reuters report citing Pakistani sources; Axios leak about Trump not wanting to fight but acting if needed.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOTrump's Desperate Negotiations with Iran
3:17 to 6:20
Explore the current state of negotiations between Trump and Iran.
“He's quite literally begging Iran to negotiate with him.”
Iran's Precondition Stance
6:20 to 12:55
Understand Iran's demands and the complexities of U.S.-Iran relations.
“Iran has four ships to the United States.”
Historical Mistrust and Future Prospects
12:55 to 14:01
Learn about the historical mistrust between Iran and the U.S. regarding negotiations.
“Rather, he told Donald Trump, you can't have a negotiation while you keep this blockade on.”
Trump's Negotiation Tactics with Iran
14:01 to 17:52
Explore Trump's contradictory statements and Iran's response to U.S. negotiations.
“And it's possible that either one, Donald Trump just is contradicting himself and he's ranting and raving like a lunatic, or this is intentional media deception in order to prepare for ground forces.”
Transcript
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3:16Ben Meiselas:Things are getting very desperate for Donald Trump right now. He's quite literally begging Iran to negotiate with him. He's basically saying, please show up in Pakistan. Tell me what you need. Iran's like, you have to agree to our 10 point framework. And we don't just want to be there with Whitcoff and Kushner. You got to send J.D. Vance. And so right now it's unclear if Iran's even going to show up. All of the leaks that we're hearing to the media right now is the Trump regime is going to be showing up in Islamabad for talks that may take place as early as tomorrow. And still, as of this recording, we're hearing from Iran, unless Donald Trump agrees to the preconditions, there's no point of doing this.
3:55Ben Meiselas:And I mean, you have Iran's president, Pazeshkian, making posts like this. You have Iran's foreign minister, Aragji, making statements like this. The leader of their parliament, M.B. Goluboff, making statements like this. So I just want to share with you, Here are the statements Donald Trump is making. Here are the statements that the Iranian leaders are making. Donald Trump is sending people to Islamabad. As of right now, Iran is making public statements still that they don't want to do that until the preconditions are agreed to, and that they don't see any utility in just Donald Trump ranting and ranting like Lundik.
4:30So judge for yourself using just these statements.
4:33Ben Meiselas:But let's just go through what's happening right here. So what we heard is that senior Pakistani government sources have told Reuters, Pakistan is confident it can get Iran to attend talks with the United States. But Trump is trying to lean hard on Field Marshal Munir in Iran to try to get Iran to show up. Then Donald Trump's just posting things like this. I mean, it's ridiculous. Here's Trump's post. I'm winning a war by a lot. Things are going very well. Our military has been amazing. But if you read the fake news, like the failing New York Times, you would actually think that we're losing the war.
5:09Ben Meiselas:The enemy is confused because they get the same media reports and yet they realize their Navy has been wiped out. So Trump says the real issue here is Iran reads the New York Times. So they're confused about what's happening. I mean, how ridiculous of a statement is. Then Donald Trump's like their former leaders are mostly gone. This has been an addition to everything else. Regime change, exclamation point. So Donald Trump's claiming that the fact that the Islamic regime is still in power, that that is regime change. And then Trump's like the anti-America fake news media is rooting for Iran to win, but it's not going to happen.
5:45Ben Meiselas:No one is rooting for them to win. I think what we're asking for is that there be no war crimes committed, no genocide committed, period, especially in the name of the United States, and that there be truthful data about what the hell is really happening here and that Americans know what is actually going on because there's the largest oil supply shock in history and the largest supply shock of a lot of other things. It's going to cause massive economic pain, and it already is. Then Donald Trump writes, the Iranian leadership has forced hundreds of ships towards the United States, mostly Texas, Louisiana and Alaska to get their oil.
6:24Ben Meiselas:Thank you very much, Donald J. Trump. And what are you even talking about? Iran has four ships to the United States. I mean, are you saying that the U.S. exports a lot of oil and then there's a lot of drilling in the U.S.? Actually, on a drilling basis, year over year, drilling is actually down slightly now from under former President Biden. But regardless, no one doubts that the United States exports and has a lot of oil, a lot of crude. I mean, nobody doubts that. The issue is, is that oil is connected to an international market. And when there's a supply shock, it impacts WTI crude and Brent crude.
6:59Ben Meiselas:It has an effect. That's why our gas prices are high. So again, just give us the facts. Tell us the truth. I mean, again, just arrange statements by him. And then he goes, the Democrats are doing everything possible to hurt the very strong position we are on. We are in with respect to Iran, despite World War I lasting four years and three months and 14 days, World War II lasting six years and one day, the Korean War lasting three years, one month, two days, and the Vietnam War lasting 19 years, five months and 29 days. Trump's like, this is going faster than all of those wars. You know, why don't you just pay attention to the details and stop talking about the length of this war and that war?
7:38Ben Meiselas:Just tell us what the real objectives are. Explain it. Stop contradicting yourself every day and just behave like a freaking grownup. I think that's what everybody's saying and stop committing war crimes and stop committing genocide. I mean, I think it's basically that simple. Then Donald Trump's like, I read the fake news saying that I'm under pressure to make a deal. This is not true. I'm under no pressure whatsoever, although it will all happen relatively quickly. Well, if you're not under pressure, then why are you sending J.D. Vance, Whitcoff and Kushner to Iran and having us to Pakistan and having Iran, having Pakistan basically beg the Iranian leaders to show up in Pakistan.
8:18Ben Meiselas:Why wouldn't you be playing hard to get? If you were in a really great negotiating position, why would you say, all right, Iran, we're not going to negotiate until you agree to our conditions. Here are our conditions, but it's the opposite way. Iran is saying, we're not going to agree to show up unless you agree to our conditions in our framework. So if you were in a great negotiating position, why are you adopting their framework? I mean, you posted it publicly that you agreed to Iran's 10 point framework. And now you claim, oh, I didn't mean that. I meant my framework. I just reposted their foreign minister's framework just because that's how cunning I am.
8:52Ben Meiselas:I mean, it's just it's just stupid stuff. More posts from Donald Trump saying the deal that we are making with Iran will be far better than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal. They actually gave Iran $1.7 billion in green cash loaded into a Boeing 757 and flown to Iran. But if a deal happens under Trump, it will guarantee peace, security, safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else. It will be something that the entire world will be proud of. At most right now, you're talking about a weaker version of the JCPOA where Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, which they didn't before this unlawful and catastrophic war.
9:35Ben Meiselas:And then Donald Trump just misrepresents everything. I mean, Obama in securing a multilateral JCPOA deal, which had buy-in from the rest of the world and mechanisms for inspecting Iran that the entire world bought in on, Iran didn't control the Strait of Hormuz then. And there wasn't$1.7 billion in green cash loaded. first off and that's not what happened i mean obama gave certain amounts of money as part of a settlement agreement that preceded any of the jcpo talks that dealt with a settlement for the islamic revolution that is the islamic revolutionary guard was claiming that they should be paid but regardless it wasn't even green cash it had to be converted into swiss francs and into other currency and in any event it was 1.7 billion dollars if you even want to say it was tied to the event, go ahead and say it.
10:29Ben Meiselas:But you've already given Iran way more in sanctions relief than$1.7 billion. You removed the sanctions on Iranian oil and they controlled the Strait of Hormuz and they were able to sell all of this oil. And now you're blockading the Persian Gulf. You already gave Iran way more money than Obama ever did by far. And he secured a multilateral deal, even though the payment wasn't tied to the JCPOA, even if it was tied, it secured a massive deal and America was safer and the whole world bought in. And so what's better, that or you and Kushner and your whole family grifting to the tune of tens of billions of dollars from Middle East nations?
11:08Ben Meiselas:So where else are we at right now? As I mentioned, you have the senior Pakistani government official saying, we're trying to get Iran to show up. We're trying to get Iran to show up. Iran is saying, we ain't going to show up unless our preconditions are met. And J.D. Vance needs to be there because we don't trust Witkoff and Kushner. We don't trust Vance either, but at least Vance has publicly spoken out against the war before. So we're good with Vance. You have Foreign Minister Aragchi of Iran calling up Russia right now, updating Russia on the situation. And Aragchi told his counterpart, Lavrov, that Iran will monitor U.S.
11:41Ben Meiselas:behavior and take the appropriate decisions to protect its interest in national security. He goes on to tell his Russian counterpart, Lavrov, that illegal behavior and contradictory positions of the U.S. are incompatible with diplomacy. And he also goes on to say that the U.S.'s continued violations of the ceasefire are a major obstacle and continuation of diplomatic processes. So those are the statements there. The statements from Iranian state media are as follows. Iran's decision not to attend the negotiations has not changed up to this moment. Trump had also said yesterday in similar remarks that the American negotiating team is on its way to Islamabad.
12:20Ben Meiselas:Pause there. Do you remember that Donald Trump said that there were going to be negotiations last Thursday in Islamabad? I just want to remind you, they pulled the same thing last week also. Iranian media then says, information received by the Tasnam reporter indicates that the issue of the maritime blockade is a very fundamental obstacle in negotiations. The U.S. blockade of the Persian Gulf is a threshold negotiating issue. And this matter has been announced through the Pakistani intermediary, who also stated today that he raised the issue with Trump. In other words, Munir, the field marshal in Pakistan, he's the top guy there, their military leader, but he basically is the main person who runs Pakistan.
12:59Ben Meiselas:Rather, he told Donald Trump, you can't have a negotiation while you keep this blockade on. However, in addition to the issues of the naval blockade, there are other excessive demands from the Americans in exchange messages that do not present a bright horizon for the upcoming negotiations. Therefore, the Iranian delegation believes that as long as the United States does not look at the issues realistically and continues to hold the same misguided calculations that led to its heavy defeat on the military front, its approach to the negotiating table will merely be a waste of time and Iran will not accompany the United States in this process of wasting time.
13:33Ben Meiselas:Accordingly, until some fundamental obstacles are removed and a clear horizon emerges for reaching an agreement acceptable to Iran, Iran has no basis for participating in American theater. Iran also takes into account the scenario of the possibility that the media shows about negotiations are deceptive and it is prepared for military confrontation and the renewed punishment of America. So in other words, Iran is saying that they don't believe the U.S. is agreeing to negotiate in good faith. And it's possible that either one, Donald Trump just is contradicting himself and he's ranting and raving like a lunatic, or this is intentional media deception in order to prepare for ground forces.
14:14Ben Meiselas:But Iran doesn't trust the United States. So Iran says, agree to our preconditions. So as Donald Trump says, I'm not panicking, I'm not begging, I'm not doing anything. Iran setting the preconditions yet again, while you're out there calling up the New York Post and calling up Reuters and calling up the Hill and calling up, you know, any reporter who you want to talk to and saying, oh, we're going to do it. Iran wants to make a deal so badly. Iran's going to make a deal. I mean, obviously to manipulate the market. You have President Pazeshkian of Iran. He posted the following message. He writes, honoring commitments is the basis of meaningful dialogue.
14:51Ben Meiselas:Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward the U.S. government conduct remains. While unconstructive and contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message. They seek Iran's surrender. Iranians do not submit to force. And so Iran saying, we're not going to respond to your social media posts, all caps saying, we're going to surrender. We're going to pound them into the ground. We're going to obliterate you. We're going to destroy your bridges. Iran is saying that doesn't work with us. That's not an effective strategy in dealing with us. And Donald Trump says it's highly unlikely he'll extend the two-week ceasefire with Iran without a deal, and the Strait of Hormuz will stay blocked until an agreement is reached.
15:34Ben Meiselas:A U.S. official is also leaking to Axios. Trump doesn't want to fight anymore, but he will if he feels he has to. And then the GOP social media accounts in the United States are now just posting, trust Trump, no to Panikins. Trust Trump, no to Panikins. Also worth noting, what's going on in Lebanon is the ceasefire holding. In Lebanon, it isn't. We're learning about Israeli strikes near a coffee shop in southern Lebanon, injuring six. Israel's claiming Hezbollah's attacking them. In Lebanon, they're claiming Israel's striking coffee shops and innocent civilians as well. So I don't believe there's a ceasefire that's really holding in Lebanon right now.
16:18Ben Meiselas:And one other thing to point out, you know, yesterday, the United States reported that two of its officials in Mexico had died in a car accident. And we talked about how suspicious that was, and then it was probably CIA operations taking place. Well, now, Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum said on Monday, She was not aware U.S. embassy officials were working with the northern state of Chihuahua to combat drug cartels and said her government would review whether national security law was broken after officials died in a car crash. Two U.S. officials and two Mexican state officials were killed in a car crash on Sunday, purportedly, where they had been working to destroy clandestine drug laboratories.
17:00Ben Meiselas:Speaking at her daily morning press conference, Scheinbaum said she would ask the U.S. ambassador to meet with foreign minister of Mexico to discuss the incident. The role of the U.S. personnel in anti-cartel missions is highly sensitive in Mexico. And Scheinbaum has repeatedly said, while intelligent sharing and security cooperation are essential to fighting organized crime, Mexico will not accept U.S. boots on the ground. And the Mexican officials killed in the accident were the director of the state's investigation agency and an officer, state authority said on Sunday, and that's what Reuters is reporting right now.
17:35Ben Meiselas:So it does seem like it was a cartel operation that was not being told to shine down, although we'll learn more and we'll report more here on the Midas Touch Network. So that's where we're at right now. We'll keep you posted every step of the way. Hit subscribe, help us get to 7 million subscribers, and thanks everybody for watching. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just$15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird.
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From the publisher
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump losing it as his plans for a meeting with Iran in Pakistan backfires and it’s unclear if Iran will even show up.
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