John Bolton Warns Iran Talks Must Fail | ‘Every Day Is a Gift to Iran’ | Breaking News | N18G

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Ambassador, are you feeling optimistic about this memorandum given that we've seen negotiations break down before when it comes to the finer points of Iran's nuclear program?

[00:00:13]Well, I hope the negotiations break down because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran.

[00:00:18]It gives them 24 more hours to recover from the pummeling they took during the 6 weeks of US Israeli attack. It gives them time to try and reconstitute their government which increasingly looks dysfunctional in decision-making capability.

[00:00:34]And it it postpones the day of reckoning ultimately when the threat that they pose to the to control over the Strait of Hormuz is resolved in a way that they never come back and do it again. I think the ceasefire was a mistake. I think these negotiations are a mistake. I think we're on the verge of something that ultimately history will decide was a catastrophic loss for the United States.

[00:00:56]We have we have done significant damage to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[00:01:02]And right now we're letting them undo the damage. And that that is a real tragedy not just for us but for the people in the region, too. So, you think even if a deal is reached and Iran commits to some of these sticking points that the US wants like moving all the enriched uranium out, that that would still be a failure?

[00:01:23]Well, the it's very hard to know what the terms they're discussing are since they change day by day, but but it seems a constant that the uranium issue is kicked down the road for at least 60 days. This is what Iran wants. They want more time. 60 days turns into 6 months and then it turns into more than that. I don't think Donald Trump is analyzing what America's strategic interests are here. I think he's looking at the price of gas at the pump and he's doing whatever he can to bring it down. You can do that. Just just say we're we're going to acknowledge that Iran can use the threat of military force to close the Strait of Hormuz anytime it wants.

[00:02:00]And the only thing the rest of the world will do in response is beg them to open it again. That's where they want to be.

[00:02:07]And that's what we're close to putting them in the position of holding from now as far as the eye can see.

[00:02:12]>> All right, so let's talk a little bit more about that because the president posted on Truth Social that quote, "If I make a deal with the Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is." But as you know, and you point out, a lot has changed since the Obama administration negotiated the Joint Plan of Action or JCPOA to kneecap Iran's nuclear program back in 2015. Now Iran has this added leverage with the Strait of Hormuz. How does the US in that context create a deal that is the exact opposite as the president said?

[00:02:49]Look, that's all salesmanship by Trump.

[00:02:50]He He's not He doesn't offer any idea what the substance is. It's sort of like Richard Nixon's secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. I mean, you could you can listen to this day after day, it doesn't say anything.

[00:03:05]The only way to establish deterrence again against Iran trying to close the Strait of Hormuz is to take it away from them militarily, to open up naval traffic on the Arabian side of the Gulf, allow Arab oil out into international markets while keeping the blockade against Iranian oil. That increases at least continues the squeeze on Iran financially, but by allowing oil to flow from the Arab states, it reduces the pressure on international markets. Iran has to learn the lesson it cannot get its way in the Gulf by military force.

[00:03:41]It's reasonable to ask why didn't the administration think of this at the beginning of the war? I don't know the answer that question, but the answer now is not to have a diplomatic deal that can be reversed like by Iran like turning a light switch on and off. And you just had the newly appointed leader of Iran's National Security Council saying in his first public message that there will be no retreat in Iran's fight against the US and Israel. And just to expand a little bit on what you alluded to, I mean, do you think the president fully understands Iran's position here and what it would take for them to reach a deal that would be better than what was previously negotiated?

[00:04:22]I I don't think the president understands the fanaticism of what's left of the regime and the people who are in power. He He is somebody who has has spent his whole life making deals with people. He thinks everybody wants to make a deal on on just about anything. That's not what these people are into and they can see that Trump is so palpably desperate to have a deal that he can declare to be a victory and it lowers prices of gasoline and they're playing him on that. They're stretching him out.

[00:04:51]They're buying time. All of that works in their advantage. Here's what we know is in the deal so far. It would see the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It would in exchange for that end the United States blockade of Iranian ports.

[00:05:05]The two sides would then have 60 days to reach a final status agreement including on that key issue of Iran's nuclear program. But US officials are indicating that they have gotten already commitments from Iranian officials that Iran will not pursue a nuclear weapon.

[00:05:23]But what's key to understand here as these negotiations are still ongoing is that Iranian officials through state medium largely are indicating that many of these points are not as the United States is describing them. There are disagreements over exactly how open the Strait of Hormuz will be, whether or not Iran has actually made any commitments on the nuclear front, and then also on the issue of Iran's blocked financial assets, whether those assets would be released as a very first step in any agreement or only after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. And then there's the thorny issue of Lebanon. Iranian officials indicating that they believe that this will lead to an end of the war in Lebanon as well, where we have seen even despite a ceasefire over the last 6 weeks, daily Israeli strikes, daily Hezbollah attacks against Israeli troops, a back and forth that is continuing and in fact escalating even tonight. The Israeli Prime Minister for his part says that he has gotten assurances from President Trump that he will have the freedom to operate against threats in Lebanon as he sees fit. That is another potential issue that could unravel this deal before it comes to fruition. Kevin, you're at the White House. How are US officials approaching this next step with Iran, and how long could this realistically take? You heard the Secretary of State said it it could take a bit. Yeah, and President Trump says that he is in no rush to get this finalized. What we've heard from officials is that this could actually take uh days and days, in part because every word that they change in this memorandum of understanding has to be approved, in their view, by the Iranian supreme leader, and that can be quite a pain process, in part because he's believed to be in hiding. And you have heard these clashing explanations over the last 24 hours about what exactly has been agreed to, whether it's the financial relief that the US will provide Iran, or what it has been agreed to in terms of Iran's nuclear stockpile. And actually, on that front, Pamela, we have just heard from President Trump just in the last few minutes on Truth Social. He wrote, "The enriched uranium, which he calls the nuclear dust, will either be immediately turned over to the United States or to be brought home and destroyed or preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or at another acceptable location with the Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent being witness to this process and event. So, this that message sounds like a red line from the president, but you know, digging into it, it is actually demonstrating a degree of flexibility here. You know, previously the president has been insistent that the United States take possession of this stockpile. You know, it's almost a thousand pounds of highly enriched uranium. He just said last week that he thought it would be quote psychologically important for the US to get its hands on it. This message suggests that the president would in fact be willing to allow it to remain inside Iran if it's destroyed or perhaps to move it to a third country. You know, Russia, for example, has offered to take possession of it. The US has discounted that. China is another country that you hear raised as a potential recipient of the uranium.

[00:08:36]And so, this message I think important as the two sides go back and forth on the wording of this deal. The president just now demonstrating a new degree of flexibility as the US tries to get this over the finish line.