GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 620

No More Stalling

It Is Too Late

Lots of rumors are swirling around about US President Trump telling Iran to make a deal before it’s too late as we see in a report from The Epoch Times:

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran isn’t faring well in its current conflict with Israel and should reengage in talks “before it’s too late.”

With the IDF boasting of taking out a third of Iran’s rocket launchers and with their leaders assassinated along with their nuclear scientists, time is really running out:

Israeli forces launched extensive airstrikes and drone attacks on Iran on June 13, in what Israeli leaders described as a “pre-emptive strike” to prevent Iran from producing its first nuclear weapons. The Israeli surprise attacks have damaged Iranian nuclear facilities and components of Iran’s ballistic missile program, and killed top Iranian military leaders and leading Iranian nuclear scientists.

Yes, Iran is landing blows in Israel but this is a war of attrition and Iran is losing decidedly as Trump tells reporters:

Iran has since retaliated, targeting Israel with ballistic missiles and attack drones. The salvos have continued for four days, and some have broken through Israel’s air defense networks, causing rising damage, deaths, and injuries.

“It’s painful for both parties, but I'd say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump remarked to reporters at the start of the annual G7 summit.

Iran still maintains it had no intentions to use nuclear weapons, but the facts say otherwise:

Before the Iranian leaders have repeatedly said they maintain a peaceful nuclear energy program, but have resumed producing highly enriched uranium since 2018. In February, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency assessed that Iran had stockpiled about 605 pounds (274.8 kilograms) of 60-percent enriched uranium. It would take uranium purity of about 90 percent to achieve weapons-grade fissile material.

The hitch in the talks are over the uranium enrichment program which Trump appeared to think was worked out until the last hours before Israel attacked Iran:

Throughout the recent talks, U.S. and Iranian negotiators appeared split over whether Iran could continue to enrich uranium.

In the hours before the Israeli strikes on Iran, Trump said a deal appeared to be “fairly close.” Trump also said, “As long as I think there will be an agreement, I don’t want [Israel] going in.”

As he spoke to reporters on Monday, Trump said Iran had taken too long to come to a deal.

Trump and the US gave Iran 60 days to come to a deal. On the 61st day judgment came. The talks are dead now:

“They‘d like to talk, but they should have done that before. I had 60 days, and they had 60 days, and on the 61st day, I said, ’We don’t have a deal,'” Trump said.

A sixth round of U.S.-Iran talks was scheduled in Oman on June 14, but the meeting was canceled after the Israeli surprise attack.

One Phone Call

Iran’s Foreign Minister seems to think so as we’re told in a report from World Israel News:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media Monday that it would take “just one phone call” to end the conflict with Israel and put Iran back on the path to diplomacy towards the nuclear agreement.

The FM explained the one call logic this way:

Araghchi posted on X, “If President (Donald) Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, the following steps are crucial; Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.”

“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,” he added.

So Israel needs to bombing Iran into the stone ages before they’ll make a deal. Right. Peace? Well his other comments aren’t certainly sounding like that:

At the same time, the FM vowed additional attacks against Israel.

“Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes,” Araghchi posted.

“We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people,” he added.

Trump seems to still think that phone call can be made, but hints that time is running out:

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the G7 conference on Monday that Iran wants to return to diplomacy and should do so “before it’s too late.”

“I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” He said.

There are some signs that Iran really does want to talk:

Amichai Stein of The Jerusalem Post reports that Iran has approached Oman and Qatar, requesting that they serve as mediators to facilitate talks with Washington and restart nuclear negotiations.

And others in the area would prefer that the fighting stop:

Gulf leaders reportedly spoke to each other and Washington about how to prevent the conflict between Israel and Iran from widening and encompassing the entire region.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia proposed a ceasefire deal that would include negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program.

A European diplomatic source told Reuters that leaders from France, Britain, and Germany are scheduling a call with Iran’s Foreign Minister.

Prime Minister Netanyahu thinks any mention of talks are just Iran’s way of stalling:

In an interview with ABC, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Iran was sincerely interested in peace and said that if they want to renew talks, it’s only to buy time so they can produce a nuclear bomb.

“I’m not surprised. I mean, they want to continue to have these fake talks in which they lie, they cheat, they string the US along. And, you know, we have very solid Intel on that,” he said.

I respect Trump, even voted for him three times, but the art of this deal is that Iran is out of time as far as Israel is concerned the war will continue on.