President Donald Trump was flattered by Middle East leaders into agreeing to a framework to end the war with Iran in a simple and very egotistical way, MS NOW's Chris Hayes agreed in a conversation with Iranian political analyst Trita Parsi.Specifically, Trump was persuaded into believing that he had persuaded Iran to take a deal better than the former Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the multilateral nuclear deal brokered by former President Barack Obama — even though many aspects of the deal are considerably more conciliatory to Iran."I think the one thing that does seem the north star for him ... when the Omani foreign minister flew to the U.S. to appear on the Sunday shows in a last-ditch effort to stop this war from happening right when there were negotiations going on," said Hayes. "He understood it, too, because it's not a very complicated psychology. He's basically on TV the weekend before the war starts being like, it's better than Obama, it's better than Obama."The bottom line, said Hayes, is that "that benchmark [to end the war] can be whatever it means for the old man's ego," even if it's not a meaningful policy accomplishment.Parsi agreed, saying that Trump "will create his own reality here."Additionally, he said, it's not all a bad thing, as there are genuinely some parts of what Trump is pursuing that are stronger than JCPOA was."For instance, in the Obama deal, the Iranians would only have a stockpile of 300 kilos of low-enriched uranium on their soil. At any point," said Parsi. "You need 1,200 for a bomb. Whenever they reach the 300 level, it would be shipped out. That was a very good deal." By contrast, he said, in the February agreement Trump wants to base the current framework on, "they would have zero stockpile. Whatever they produce, they would immediately turn into fuel [rods]. They would never keep a stockpile at all."That said, he added, "Was it worth all of this? Absolutely not. In fact, that was already achieved before the war." - YouTube youtu.be
The vice president, in an interview with NBC News, also said text of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran won’t be released until Friday.
Vice President JD Vance spoke with NBC News' Tom Llamas about the announcement of a deal being reached between the U.S. and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. Vance said that nuclear inspectors will be allowed back into Iran under the agreement, as a signing ceremony is set to be held in Switzerland.
On the Big Take podcast, Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s National Security Editor, Nick Wadhams, discuss the US-Iran ceasefire deal and how Israel’s fight with Iran’s proxies fits into the equation. (Source: Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump is already planning his next “focus” after his administration formalizes its peace deal with Iran later this week, revisiting one of his most aggravating goals. The president, who is expected to finalize his memorandum of understanding with Tehran on Friday, said Monday that ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be his […]
One of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken supporters is turning on him over his deal to end the Iran war.“I have asked for days, why can't we, the people, see the damn [memorandum of understanding]?” radio host Mark Levin, who traditionally supports the president, commented on Monday. “Not through people briefed by an anonymous person. Honestly, I've never seen anything like this. If it is a great outcome for peace, then release it.”In a separate post, Levin commented on how Trump has shifted in his characterization of America’s relationship with Israel.“In a period of two-months, Israel has gone from a great ally and partner in war, fighting by our side against a horrible enemy that has killed thousands of our people, killed tens of thousands of their own people, and was a dire nuclear threat intent on attacking us, to Israeli PM Netanyahu being a difficult person who should be thanking us for saving his country from Iran and should get our permission if he wants to defend his people from Hezbollah and Iran, and stand down when his country is attacked,” Levin wrote.He added, “And just yesterday, Israel's [prime minister] avenged the execution of 5 American soldiers by taking out a Hezbollah commander/terrorist. And only Israel has been killing Hezbollah leaders who murdered our Marines, soldiers, embassy staff, and more. It seems to me a kind word is in order. How does this make any sense?”Despite Trump attempting to convince Israel to no longer attack either Iran or Iran’s proxy militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, the three parties continue to engage in hostilities against each other.“Iran has conditioned that deal on an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and its militia ally, Hezbollah,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Tehran upped the ante overnight by firing waves of missiles at Israel after Israel attacked Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Despite Trump’s effort to calm the growing tensions, Israel retaliated against targets in Iran including an important petrochemical facility, extending an exchange of fire that Iran warned could pull in energy facilities across the region.”Trump responded by posting on social media that Israel and Iran need to stop attacking each other, prompting both nations to cease their violence against each other while saying they may resume later. The president has been particularly focused on Israel, describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” for attacking Lebanon and adding that “everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” He also claimed Netanyahu would have been in prison for corruption if not for Trump’s intervention.Since Netanyahu’s war against Gaza, American opinion has noticeably shifted toward Israel, with Netanyahu appearing unconcerned with the problem. Along with the increase in criticism of Israel, there has also been an increase in bigotry against Jews in general. Speaking with AlterNet in March about the issue of American anti-Semitism, Brandeis University historian Jonathan Sarna pointed out that people have often struggled to distinguish between criticizing the Israeli government and hating Jews in general.“If you go back to ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ — the great antisemitic forgery of the turn of the last century — that really began this sense that Jews are all-powerful, that they operate behind the scenes, and that whatever happens is ultimately their fault,” Sarna said. “Before then, for centuries, the prevailing view was that Jews were persecuted and lowly because they had killed Christ, and that was what they deserved — they were powerless. That was their punishment. But ‘The Protocols’ flipped that.”Sarna continued that “especially as Jews in modernity have begun to succeed economically, it doesn't much matter what the issue is — whether it is 9/11, which some blame on the Jews, or the crash of 2008, or now the war with Iran. You can predict before it happens that people will blame Jews, because as The Protocols taught people, it's always the Jews. It's the great conspiracy theory. And even many people who have never read The Protocols believe many of the things in it — just as many people have never read Darwin, but they know the word ‘evolution.’ This is simply the latest iteration.”Sarna ultimately concluded, “I can be critical of President Trump without being un-American. Most people who criticize President Trump or the Republicans would assure you how much they love America and hold a fundamentally positive view of it. It seems to me that it's deeply important for us to do the same with Israel — that is, to make clear that there is a huge difference between disliking the policies of the Prime Minister of Israel and hating Israel itself. If you wouldn't equate criticism of the President with hating America, there is no reason — and indeed it is wrong and wicked — to do so with regard to Israel.”
