The President cancels the U.S. delegation's trip to Islamabad, and Iran doesn't send its top negotiators. What does this mean for the future of diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran? What will happen now that the talks are off the table? We talk to Iranian-born human rights activist Goldie Gamari, Israeli special ops veteran Aaron Cohen, and policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky.
00:00:00.000All right, so you just heard that the president has canceled the U.S. delegation's trip to Islamabad.
00:00:05.620Big news, that is. Iran didn't send its top negotiators.
00:00:09.200Let's talk about this. Iranian-born human rights activist Goldie Gamari,
00:00:13.540Israeli special ops veteran Aaron Cohen, and policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky.
00:00:20.340So, Goldie, do you think that this was the last chance of diplomacy before the bombs start falling again?0.86
00:00:25.520Was this a bad tactical error by Iran?0.95
00:00:30.000I mean, I would certainly hope that this is the last chance that President Trump gives them,0.91
00:00:34.120because, you know, one thing that we Iranians know is that this is a brutal Islamic dictatorship.0.96
00:00:38.940They're terrorists, and you cannot negotiate with terrorists.0.86
00:00:41.660And I think what President Trump is doing here is he's demonstrating this to the rest of the world,
00:00:46.080because there are a lot of, you know, leftists and, you know, of course, the Democrats as well,
00:00:50.740who are trying to pressure President Trump into seeking a, you know, diplomatic, peaceful solution.0.70
00:00:55.840But ultimately, this is an evil Islamic dictatorship.0.94
00:00:59.260ship. You cannot negotiate with them. And this was, you know, the way I see it, the final chance.1.00
00:01:04.260And President Trump was very clear. He has all the cards and the Islamic regime has no leverage.0.98
00:01:09.500So, Aaron, the IRGC apparently dropping, you know, some mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Whether0.87
00:01:14.440they are or not, psychologically, it still has an effect on all the ships that would like to go
00:01:19.520through there for the cargo. Obviously, the Navy responds with a shoot and kill of any boat caught0.98
00:01:26.260laying vines. How quickly do you think this can escalate now the talks are off the board?0.91
00:01:34.120Well, it's good to be on with you. So excuse me, here's where I'm out with the straight of
00:01:37.740her moves. Iran keeps threatening the straight because the last card they have. But I want to1.00
00:01:42.700make the reality very clear right now. The IRGC, so everybody understands, does not control the
00:01:49.600straight. The United States Navy does, and Iran can harass shipping. We're literally talking about
00:01:56.620jet skis, wave runners, and a bullhorn. They have no control over this channel, and Iran can harass0.99
00:02:04.300the shipping, and they can try and create some buzz and some headlines, but they cannot and will
00:02:09.580not sustain any type of control against U.S. naval assets, which is what your reporter set up at the
00:02:15.160beginning of the hit. So what you're seeing right now is what I call fear theater, right? This is
00:02:19.900designed to spike oil prices, rattle markets and create the illusion of leverage. But make no
00:02:26.040mistake, they have zero control over the straight. And that pressure cooker is what's forcing the
00:02:33.320Iranians to turn off eight out of 10 lights inside the house, the IRGC, the malls. They are getting0.96
00:02:40.020squeezed. Yeah. And soon it might be all 10 lights are going to have to be shut off because they're
00:02:44.400have nothing left of an economy but let me just follow up real quickly there uh aaron is it ships
00:02:51.600can go through now but they don't want to because it's still it's psychops right that's
00:02:56.400what you were saying that's really what it is they're still afraid of the maybe the mine that
00:03:00.880wasn't swept or uh some sort of action i mean even on those little gun boats they they can
00:03:06.880they can shoot things that if i'm somebody who's unarmed on a regular cargo ship i don't want to
00:03:12.320to deal with that sure and it's and it's but but again it's very minimal disruption all right it's
00:03:19.360becoming uh uh what the u.s is doing right now what trump's doing right now especially backing
00:03:23.360off that trip is he's scaling and upping the coordinated economic warfare here so the
00:03:29.680interdiction so let me just what that looks like tactically the united states navy is going to
00:03:34.560interdict any iranian oil shipment they're going to begin and have already probably begun started
00:03:41.440putting pressure on third-party buyers. The financial isolation is tightening. And that
00:03:47.460maritime enforcement, which you just asked me about, is going to continue at an unprecedented
00:03:53.540level. They're going to have very, very minimal effect. And once the U.S. starts to fall into
00:04:00.900that tactical rhythm, the Iranian movement is going to have zero effect on any of the economics0.50
00:04:08.400that's not directed specifically at the MOLA.0.53
00:04:12.880So the U.S., again, total control, minor disruption is where I'm at.
00:04:18.040Jason, you're a nuclear policy expert, so I'm really interested on your response here.0.56
00:04:23.080So Trump wants to get in there, dig up, and remove Iran's enriched uranium, right?
00:04:28.340Nuclear dust, I think it's called.1.00
00:04:30.300Do you think that Iran would ever sign off on this, allow them in there?0.99
00:04:33.580That's really one of the sticking points, clearly.1.00
00:04:36.640But how do you actually get rid of that stuff?0.96
00:04:38.400Well, I think it's highly unlikely we're ever going to get to a durable diplomatic settlement with this regime as long as it's in power in Iran.0.95
00:04:47.880And that's the hard truth and inconvenient reality for many policymakers.0.90
00:04:52.080So I think the regime is going to hold on to that stockpile of highly enriched uranium because that is one of its trump cards, really.
00:05:00.320And it knows it could use that as a sort of Damocles over the international community.0.78
00:05:04.680But I agree with Aaron. I think the Iranian position is very, very badly degraded.0.99
00:05:11.420Iran is playing a weak hand right now, and it's trying to create the illusion that it has a stronger hand than it really does, given the U.S. having escalation dominance in the region.
00:05:24.160And President Trump does retain the option of a ground operation to secure that stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
00:05:30.740But make no mistake, it is a very highly risky, complicated operation, but one that's nevertheless been trained for by U.S. military forces.
00:05:42.820And as the president said, they can hand it over voluntarily or the United States will have to go in and take it forcefully.
00:05:49.460Yeah, and maybe one day the United Nations will actually be useful, but I don't see that anytime soon.0.55
00:05:54.820Goldie, so, you know, just saying, taking it further, what Iran announced, where, you know, we need to cut back on electricity.
00:06:03.200That obviously signals that they're feeling the squeeze.
00:06:06.980The everyday Iranian who does not have access to the Internet, probably wondering what the heck is going on here.
00:06:13.780But as it gets tighter and tighter, inflation goes up, the IRGC or the army, you know, not getting paid, you know, inflation continuing to go up.
00:06:22.800it is short term. It's probably very painful for everyday Iranians. But do you think that
00:06:29.700they understand why this is happening and when it might be the moment to actually rise up?
00:06:36.120Oh, absolutely. So, you know, Iranians in occupied Iran, they do know what's going on.
00:06:42.480There are ways to get information inside. The challenge with the Internet being cut off is that
00:06:46.920it's preventing them from speaking out. It's preventing them from, you know, saying what
00:06:51.840they really want to say to the rest of the world. But what I can tell you is the messages that we're
00:06:55.500getting from inside of occupied Iran is that Iranians want the United States and Israel to
00:07:01.220continue their military operation against the Islamic regime to eradicate the Islamic regime.
00:07:06.540And in fact, this news right now coming from the Islamic regime about, you know, asking Iranians to
00:07:13.920limit their energy consumption, Iranians in occupied Iran see this as another sign, another
00:07:19.740indicator that the regime is crumbling. And so the message that Iranians have for the outside world
00:07:24.820is, you know, President Trump, please finish the job, because ultimately what Iranians are saying
00:07:29.260is that they don't want any sort of internal regime change. They want a complete and total
00:07:33.360collapse. And the only person that Iranians trust to transition Iran from an Islamic dictatorship1.00
00:07:38.840to a functioning secular democratic society is the Crown Prince of Iran, His Royal Highness,
00:07:44.580and Iranians are waiting for his call because as soon as he makes the call to go out into the0.57
00:07:50.620streets, that's exactly what Iranians are going to do, and that's what they're preparing for right
00:07:54.220now. All right, Goldie, Aaron, and Jason, appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much.1.00