H.R. McMaster doubts progress of U.S.-Iran deal

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]I want to bring in CBS News contributor and former national security advisor during the first Trump administration, retired Lieutenant General H.R.

[00:00:06]McMaster. General, it's good to see you.

[00:00:09]You've been involved in these kinds of negotiations before. Does it feel like we're actually getting closer to a deal, especially considering the news of these strikes on Iran just this morning?

[00:00:20]Hey Vlad good to be with you. Hey, I don't think we're getting very close.

[00:00:23]Vlad, you know, I know there's there's this tendency on the part of the president to sort of market positively and to think that you know, that maybe reality will move in that direction of that positive vision that he puts out there. I mean, this is one of the ways he he got that ceasefire in in Gaza, for example, but I don't think it's going to work with the Iranians, Vlad. I mean, I think in particular, we should pay attention to how intransigent this regime has been. And if you just saw the you know, the supreme leader who still hasn't we still haven't heard his voice, we still haven't seen his image, but he put out a written statement yesterday saying, "Hey, the US has to get out of the region completely. You're not going to be safe on your bases." It doesn't sound like there's any kind of progress toward an agreement, mainly I think because Iran is unwilling to give on any of the fundamental issues like removing what the president calls the nuclear dust, you know, or or pledging no no enrichment saying, "Hey, we're not going to pursue a nuclear program or nuclear nuclear weapon." And now Iran is adding into it as well that there would have to be a ceasefire in Lebanon for Israel to stop uh you know, really what are defensive strikes against these this drone complex that Hezbollah is trying to reseed in southern Lebanon.

[00:01:37]Well, and and I'm glad that you brought that up cuz I think that the fact that there are these sort of two fronts, these two dynamics, it makes it even more difficult to create the conditions that would lead to something actually going forward in terms of a deal. You know, there there are the allegations that Iran is is once again placing mines in the straight. I mean, how do you think that is going to impact both the the messaging that the US says that negotiations are going well, as well as the actual, you know, the fruition of these negotiations leading to something?

[00:02:10]Well, Kelly, we know that that Iran has used the ceasefire to try to regenerate as much capability as they could.

[00:02:16]They're trying to, you know, repair missile launchers, for example. They're trying to to assemble some more drones, get so deep in their arsenal of of the this missile drone strike complex. And according to what I've just read and and heard, uh these strikes were against air defense systems that were activated against US aircraft when we attacked some of these IRGC Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps mine-laying boats. I think we're going to see a lot more of this, Kelly. I mean, the regime, I think, is going to try to get away with the Iranians anything they can get away with. And I think that that the US forces and and certainly as you're as as the Israelis come back in this, they're not going to want to see Iran regenerate this ability to strike out against all their neighbors. Remember, they fired a massive amount of drones and missiles against 14 different countries, about 2,800 projectiles against the United Arab Emirates alone.

[00:03:09]So, General, objectively speaking, I I does it strike you that Iran has, I don't want to call it the upper hand, but I'm trying to understand what kind of leverage the United States has.

[00:03:22]We went from the president saying that he wants unconditional surrender. He messaged that on his social media. He told reporters that. To now, uh we are trying diplomacy at a negotiation. He went uh from saying he doesn't want Iran to have any nuclear capabilities right now to suggesting that perhaps they would be able to maintain some level of enrichment um before getting to the deeper question uh later uh kicking that can down the line. He went from saying they should have no um ballistic missile capabilities. Now that doesn't seem to be on the table at least in this particular plan that we're talking about. So for Iran, being able to close the Strait of Hormuz at any point in time that they desire seems like a pretty big leverage even if we continue to bomb even going as far as the president the president suggested of bombing civilian targets doesn't seem like they're coming to the table in the way that the president perhaps intended. I know this is a long-winded but I'm just trying to understand and to give our viewers the context of what the president has been saying and where we are today and where the Iranians see us.

[00:04:32]Yeah, he I'm really glad you asked this question because there is this narrative out there that somehow the Iranian regime is in this position of advantage, right? I I look thinking back to like even the first week of the war where you had the a headline for a major international news magazine that said advantage Iran. I was like what war are you are looking at? [snorts] Iran is in an extraordinarily weakened position flat. But you know what they've been is they've been conditioned over over multiple US administrations that hey if they just hang on the US will make concession after concession.

[00:05:03]There's this idea right that the Iranians are great negotiators. You know what? We're just terrible negotiators because what we do is we just make concession after concession to get to ultimately a weak agreement. I don't think Trump will do that. He will keep the pressure on them. I think when you see all this talk about when maybe there's a deal extending the ceasefire the economic pressure remains on Iran flat. There there there are you know there their inflation rate is up over 70%. Uh unemployment is skyrocketing. They're losing $450 million a day just from Kharg Island exports. Hey pretty soon they're not going to be able to make payroll for the thugs the IRGC and the Basij who remember murdered 40,000 of their own people in January. Not really a sign of strength for a regime when you have to commit mass murder of your own citizens. So, I think this narrative that somehow they have an advantage is is completely inaccurate. And I think what's really important for viewers to understand is we have not yet even tried to open the strait by force. That was the phase of the campaign that was ready to go when the ceasefire kicked in. And I think what you've seen maybe with Secretary Rubio's comments today, hey, it's going to be open one way or another. And I think what's likely to get happen, Vlad, is that the the Iranian regime will drive past this this last exit. They drive past They've driven past every exit ramp, you know, across multiple months, years, you could say.

[00:06:31]And I think what you're going to see is an effort to open the strait by force.

[00:06:35]>> Mhm. Mhm. I do think that's that's important context, especially as we get closer to the midterms and folks here at home feeling the pain with gas prices that may need to be a step that that is taken to bring those oil prices down.

[00:06:49]General though, I do want to pivot to the war in Ukraine if if we could for a moment. How significant do you think it is that we've reached a point where you've got Secretary of State Rubio actually being counter contacted rather by Russia about evacuating Americans in Kyiv ahead of a new wave of attacks?

[00:07:10]>> Well, I think this is Russia posturing, you know, of course they've been They just subjected Ukraine to another massive onslaught including against Kyiv. But Russia, I'll take it here. They're in a position also of profound weakness. You got to remember right when this war started the massive re-invasion, it was supposed to be a week long. They've taken over a million casualties. They're taking about 1,500 casualties a day for nothing, no territorial gains. And what's really important is Ukraine has affected their air defenses uh pretty well, Russian air defenses. So, these medium-range strike uh capabilities that Ukraine's developed on their own are taking a big toll on on Russian refineries uh and and the Russian people are feeling it. And I think Putin's pretty nervous, you know, he shut down Telegram. He's putting in more restrictive measures in place to control communications. I think he I think he's worried. Now, of course, you know, these authoritarian regimes don't have to be that strong. They just have to be stronger than any organized opposition. But, I think this is this is another kind of desperate move uh on the part of of Putin to try to incentivize the United States to sign up for terms for a ceasefire in Ukraine that are unacceptable to the Ukrainians and unacceptable to the Europeans. Cuz what what Putin's really hoping for is to break apart the transatlantic relations that relations uh and and to and to break apart NATO. And he thinks that's his way to do it. You know, he thinks that hey, we're weak, we're decadent, we're divided. Kind of like the Iranians, I think they watch reporting, you know, of the war and they think, "Oh, you know, Trump's under a lot of pressure." I think actually our democracies, we look ugly from the outside, but we're actually quite strong. These authoritarian regimes, you know, that you know, that that kind of lame May Day parade he had on May 9th, they they look good on parade, they look strong from the outside, but they're actually quite brittle and quite fearful of their own populations.

[00:09:08]All right, Lieutenant General H.R.

[00:09:09]McMaster, always great to have you, sir, for that context. Appreciate it.