Transcription
Ceasefire talks between the US and Iran have ended without a deal. The meeting between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Sarakshi went for several rounds for a total of 21 hours in Islamabad. JD Vance says he was in contact with President Donald Trump multiple times through the negotiations. He also told reporters the US delegation made clear what its red lines were as well as where it was willing to accommodate but Iran has not accepted its terms.
Professor Shaham Akbar Zad is a Middle East political analyst from Deacon University and joins me now from Melbourne. Very good day to you. Uh so JD Vance saying there bad news for Iran less so for the US. Do you agree?
>> Good to be here Lorna. But I don't think that is an accurate depiction of the dynamics. I think President Trump is under immense pressure to end the war, a lot more than the Iranian side. Even though militarily clearly Iran is on the back foot, but in terms of political pressure that Iran has managed to put on President Trump um really requires an urgent end. remember that Trump um entered the war with the idea of regime change and then all of that changed into um Iran giving up its missile program and giving up its nuclear program. Uh and now all the focus is on the straight off hormones. So Trump has been backtracking in the course of the 40-day war, which I suggest to me that Iran feels quite comfortable that time is on their side and by not agreeing to um Trump's maximalist terms terms um Iran can exert continue exerting more pressure on Trump.
Um he didn't mention the strait of Hmur's JD Vance which I thought was interesting. The focus was clearly and squarely on Iran's nuclear program and and America wanting it to give it give it up. That for Iran is a red line. I mean is that where you see it?
Well, we don't have uh we don't we don't know exactly what they discuss and what the um stumbling blocks are in the conversation, but Trump has been insisting on these various issues at different times in different interviews. He has highlighted different points. Um at the moment the most pressing issue for President Trump is the state of hormones and given that Iran has discovered in the course of the war that its um control basically over the set of hormones can has can give Iran a deterren um asset deterrence quality has really convinced Iran to I think maintain its control over the foremost and not give U JD Vance said this was his final and best offer. Uh but Iran's Tasnim news agency is saying that as long as the US does not agree to a reasonable deal, there will be no change in the situation in the strait of Humuz.
Um what Shaham are the options going forward here? What might happen?
I think um President Trump I saw other reports that uh two naval um ships have gone through for uh that that the United States is poised to uh move on to the next phase that is ground invasion and boots on the ground possibly island. So that's one option that they are keeping on the table. Um that would be a big big mistake in my view because clearly the US has the military superiority to capture car island or other islands in the state of Hormos but the question is what's going to happen next what's the day after scenario and it's there that the US really fails in its strategy so again I think the Iranians uh feel that time's on their side that the US cannot not maintain this level of military engagement and activity and uh they expect that the US will simply push you know pull back.
>> Um, professor while JD Vance was making his speech there in Islamabad the president of the United States Donald Trump was in Miami um at a UFC 327 uh contest. He's still there as we speak. JD Vance said that he was in communication through the day with the president. Um I wonder what you make of the optics of that that this is where Donald Trump is while Jay Vance is doing these very serious negotiations. Is it Donald Trump disassociating from it to some degree?
>> Well um you have to um you have to acknowledge that President Trump uh lives in his in his own fabricated universe. He always uh presents his side of the story as the fact and truth. Um he likes to always assume that he is the best negotiator that he is going to come out victorious in the course of the discussions. So he doesn't want to appear that he is distracted by these negotiations. So that's what he's doing.