Sources: New Round Iran-U.S. Talks Will Be Announced Soon
April 15—Sources close to the White House say that a new round of talks aimed at ending the senseless war with Iran will be announced soon and will likely take place in Islamabad, the site of the last discussions.
The sources say that back-channel discussions with Iran are ongoing, and the goal of the new talks will be to hammer out a memorandum of understanding that will become the framework of the agreement.
Breakdown in Previous Negotiations
According to other sources with contacts with the Iranian delegation, the first two sessions of the talks last weekend came close to agreeing on a MoU, but things went off the rails during the last, late-night session. These sources say the Americans had suddenly hardened their positions on the nuclear weapons and enrichment questions, where they had shown flexibility before. The sources report that one of the problems in the discussions was that the head of the American delegation, Vice President JD Vance, seemed unsure of his authority to negotiate and kept phoning the President and his team in Washington, asking for advice.
"Trump constantly changes his position," said a source, "which makes it hard to getting anything done with finality. The best way to deal with things is that the parties in the room come up with an agreement and then present it to their leaders, including Trump, as the best offer possible, and then force him to accept things. That was not how this last round worked. Too much Trump means too little agreement. This is especially the case, when the Iranian side no longer trusts Trump, who twice has attacked Iran, when a negotiated settlement was on the table for approval."
Trump did something similar in this last round, when in the middle of the negotiations, he announced his intention to blockade traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, even as negotiators were working on a plan for free transit for all parties. When first reported, the blockade was of all traffic; it was later refined to be targeting shipping that came from or was going to Iranian ports.
"Where the hell did this come from?" asked a source with knowledge of the negotiations. "It came from some fools who are telling Trump that the regime in Tehran is becoming increasingly economically unstable, and that reducing income from oil would cause it to fall. U.S. intelligence estimates don't agree with this, and there it is on front pages of the world press, right in the middle of the talks."
Outlook for a Potential Agreement
The sources close to the White House continue to say that Trump wants out of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's war, which is killing him and the GOP in the polls. "Well, if he wants out, he better let people like [Special Envoy] Steve Witkoff negotiate and let Vance work with him."
Despite all the problems cited, there is reason to be optimistic about future talks. Sources say that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declared his willingness to help mediate difficult issues, is engaged in working up an acceptable solution to both the nuclear weapons and enrichment issues and has reiterated Russia's willingness to hold Iran's stocks of uranium enriched to 60% or more. Meanwhile, China is talking to Tehran about proposals to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to all shipping.
"There is a deal to be made, if Trump wants to make it," said the source.