Will the U.S. and Iran Reach a Deal? || May 30, 2026
We've been hearing about an alleged deal in Iran for quite some time, so what's actually happening with negotiations?
The Trump administration has hollowed out the standard diplomatic arms that would handle something like this. And since those roles were never backfilled, we've had Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and JD Vance trying to handle these talks. When no progress was made, Pakistan's power broker, Asim Munir, was brought in to relay messages between Tehran and Washington.
To say the U.S. has a dysfunctional negotiation process would be an understatement. And despite the White House claiming a deal is close, no meaningful progress has been made. The main issue with this stalemate is the impact on global energy markets, and things will only worsen from here.
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Comments (56)
Why do the most incompetent people in the country, end up in charge of all this super important stuff?? You can’t get through an interview to be a brick layer if you are incompetent boob, how do idiots like Witcoff end up negotiating the most important stuff in the world today?
No
No! Trump does not have a fundamental understanding of what he is dealing with.
Where are the adults in the room? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
NO, NEVER, IMPOSIBLE
Peter lives in cognitive dissonance when it comes to anything related to Trump. I wonder how much of this peter just makes up.
Why make a deal just wipe the Iranian government and fighters off the face of earth. Then give Iran back to its people as it is the fault of Britain, BP and the US greed and stupidity the shite regime took power and ruined Iran.
👍
PZ's hatred for T makes all his opinions questionable at best and suspect overall!
I voted for trump, but his administration has turned into Israelis puppet and a pedophile defender. What’s left of Maga is bottom of the barrel
Did Peter perhaps mean CIA when he said "That's it. That's all of the Americans that have ever been involved in these talks. Trump doesn't trust the State Department or the National Security Agency [...]"? NSA's mandate is codebreaking and information security. It has no role in diplomacy.
Small note, it’s pronounced “KUSH-ner,” with the first syllable like “push” or “cushion,” not “KOOSH-ner” with an “oo” sound like “moon.”
Peter, are there Russian targets (military, political or quasi-civilian) that you think Ukrainian should be hitting (or more often) to gain a greater advantage or negotiating position. For example, I'm still surprised the Kerch bridge is still standing.
Mendelsohn: I'm not at all surprised that the (damaged) Kerch Strait Bridge has been left standing. I'm quite sure that is quite deliberate and sound military policy. Ukraine has systematically turned Crimea into a trap for the RF forces, there, by systematically sinking all the heavy ferries previously able to move fuel and matériel across the Sea of Azov, denying access by water and kicking the RF Black Sea Fleet all the way back to Novorossiysk, damaging the bridge just enough to interdict most military traffic, and lately turning the two access highways from the north into kill zones. Why leave the bridge standing, then? To leave the enemy a means to flee, of course. RF soldiers may end up leaving with nothing heavier than a civilian car and AK-47s.
I’m sure MAGA will just blame it on Biden.
,,, the autopen.
June 21st is "Judgement Day."
Trump plainly stated his fundamental tactic, which is to Outwait. Outwaiting is one of our superpowers. Exceptional outwaiting skills beat hasty bad actors every time. Name a better tactic. You can't. But I'll wait.
Right, he risks global markets getting completely annihilated and causing a global bond crisis. Real smart guy waiting it out.
The civil service in Trump 1.0 was actively working against anything Trump wanted implemented. Trump 2.0 decided less people in those positions meant less enemies.
That is why this should have gone to Congress for an Authorization of Force. This needed to have been argued from both sides and Trump is just surrounded by groveling Yes-Men. Not having enough adults in Trump 2.0 admin is how we got into this quagmire.
Can you do a podcast with Simon Dixon? I'm getting conflicting viewpoints on whats really happening with the war. I have a very strong bias with Peter's view since reading End of the World, but would be happy to see you pass judgement on Dixon's view which do still have alot of compelling factors to them. I do believe it would be a better podcast than anything we've seen to recent date. Food for thought....
😬😬😬😣😣😣
Geez Peter, you make me feel so much better about this. I was afraid that Iran would get the bomb and control of the straight. Now I know they will and I don’t need to worry.
I could not find a former Military/Intelligence guy by the name of Ahson Manear (sp) in a search. My bet, he's been a CIA asset for a decade at least.
Asim Munir?
Any chance of a 25th amendment event?
Doubtful because the people to implement it are his lackeys. The whole of the US government's design was very poorly thought out.
the only good thing is, saving some time until final climate breakdown
Enlightening background. Thank you.
All in all just another wonderful job done by Trump...
Long story short: US/Trump state department failing or simply no longer cared about US foreign policies. What I think is going to happen is the Middle Eastern states are going to do their own deals/hedging without US/Washington interests getting a say because Trump basically "checked out" (more like abandoned the entire thing midway). US involvement in the Middle East might finally be ending but in the worst way possible until the next US president in 2029. By then I am not sure there will be any room left for the US in the Middle East (other countries have learned US security guarantees dependent on election results/cycle outcomes).
The craziest part is, this is what 80m Americans voted for and the majority of those still support and want this. I talk to MAGA folks all of the time and they literally tell me that Trump is the greatest president we have ever seen and that he's doing an excellent job in Iran and with the economy. So if you ask me, the real problem isn't poor leadership in the USA. The population wants an oil crisis. They want a recession. If the driver is sending the car over a cliff and half of the passengers support and encourage it, what can anyone else possibly do?
77.3 million voted for Trump…. I know you rounded up but don’t want to give them more votes than they (maybe) got. He is losing support but the hard core are too invested in his reality to think for themselves plus they are in echo chambers that tell them what to believe and that everyone believes it
Despite having no semblance of peace negotiations the stock market is stupid enough to believe, once a week, that peace negotiations are going great and the war is almost over. 📈
They play with the speculation, just like the AI bs which doesn’t have the fundamentals enough to create this much speculative wealth. Even after Data Centers are built they have to replace all of the chips shortly after.
Ego and Epstein. There is no other h er way to describe Cheeto's moves. He also saw this and continues to profit from his statements. Like a blackjack dealer who looks at the cards before dealing them.
The Heritage Foundation got what it wanted. It has long talked about the need to "dismantle the administrative state." "Getting rid of the deep state" means systematically purging the government of any bureaucrat who knows what he is doing. We now have the Heritage Foundation to thank for destroying America's ability to negotiate with foreign countries and causing damage that it will take decades to fix; it is unlikely that 47 would have thought up this insane policy on his own.
Kevin Roberts(project 2025 coauthor) waited to publish his book Dawn’s Early Light until Trump was inaugurated. In it, he prescribes burning all American institutions to the ground and from the ashes, build a Christo-fascist nation.
!. Trumph doesn't want a government, he wants a kingship. 2. The only thing worse than trumph not being involved with negotiations is him being involved. 3. Let him rub himself on door knobs. 4. No, we greenies aren't happy that 100's of millions are about to starve.
Youtube
Frankfurt airport is the absolute worst
why?
One of the things that I find so extraordinarily palpable absurd is that we have now gone from worrying about Iran becoming a threat maybe one day to making them a THREAT NOW! The absurdity of that is just totally hypocritical and f*cking INSANE! I bet the Greenies are happy the oil isn't coming out.
Trump has replaced government with cult. You don't work under Trump unless you bend the knee. So government is gone. Lackeys trying to please the dear leader in his deluded, demented world is all there is...
We elected a destructive imbecile & our country is now managed by inexperienced 40 somethings driving a filthy 24 Hr Fitness gym into bankruptcy. The duopoly congress willingly does nothing. 86% American dissatisfaction w/ Congress and a 97% incumbent reelection rate. 3 more years of this? We’re fuged.
I was EXTREMELY suspicious of the Pakistani involvement in "negotiations" right from the beginning due to their self-serving, double-dealing and scamming during the Afghanistan era. Now Ziehan shows us it's worse than I suspected. After one of the supposed negotiations, which of course failed soon after, a large LPG tanker sailed right down the middle of the strait to Pakistan unmolested. No doubt it was Pakistan's reward for flummoxing the deal. Indeed, so long as Pakistan is involved, there will be no way at all for the USA to resolve the conflict in any way remotely benefiting the USA or the rest of the world for that matter. I'm really pissed about this. I would like to see the USA, and friends, if we have any, anymore, bomb the bejesus out of the entire Iranian side of the Gulf and upgrade the blockade such that nothing moves in Iranian water as a way to persuade Iran to play nice. AND, of course, bomb all the ports, power generation, and especially level Kharg Island to smoking rubble. But, of course, none of that can possibly happen as it stands now. So, the smart thing to do right now would be for the USA to turn around and slink home to let someone else fix the problem. Because the USA can not.
The only comment I’ve read by someone with a brain who actually understands the issues. Thank you.
The US also negotiated Hamas and Israel and whose to say this administration wants the war to end. According to Peter its actually helping the US gain power in some ways
Cutting off Gulf oil and products DOES benefit the American energy industry. Also, it's got to be annoying for the Chinese. And, unfortunately, it helps the Russians peddle cheap bootleg oil, too. And, it's not farfetched to say ANYTHING that happens over there is about oil at the end of the day. Yet, it does seem the President is not smart enough to figure that out.
Dear Americans, just leave
And take Trump with you
Thanks Peter!
Also, what flavor are the East Wing Doorknobs gonna taste like? 👅?
Like Pam Bondi’s nose.
Coalie said HE was leading the negotiations?