S8 Ep669: 12. The "Art of the Deal" and Conflicting Reports on Iran Negotiations GUEST: Bill Roggio, Edmund Fitton-Brown SUMMARY: This segment explores conflicting reports of U.S.-Iran negotiations and Iranian "non-negotiables," such as regime survival. Meanwhile,
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John Batchelor
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🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
12. The "Art of the Deal" and Conflicting Reports on Iran Negotiations GUEST: Bill Roggio, Edmund Fitton-Brown SUMMARY: This segment explores conflicting reports of U.S.-Iran negotiations and Iranian "non-negotiables," such as regime survival. Meanwhile, NATO signals support for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open under international law.,,, Although Trump claims progress on an Iran deal, both sides are hiding their bottom lines, with hardline Iranian official Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf possibly involved in secret talks,. Iranian non-negotiables include regime survival and maintaining their regional proxy networks in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Rutte has indicated that the coalition is united in its support for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, emphasizing that closing international waters is a violation of international law. (12)
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchel with Bill Rajio of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, |
| 0:19.9 | and we're joined by Edmund Fitton |
| 0:21.2 | Brown, former UK Ambassador to Yemen, former UN official, and I read the headline from the Financial Times, Edmund. |
| 0:28.8 | Trump hails progress on Iran deal, but threatens huge attack on infrastructure. The oil is up, the |
| 0:36.4 | defenses are up, everybody's primed for what comes next. Your measure of this, |
| 0:43.1 | the Iranians continue to deny that they're in negotiation, except that in their denial, |
| 0:49.1 | there's a wink, always a wink, that there might be something to talk about. What is there to talk about? |
| 0:54.5 | Mr. Trump is now talking about regime change is accomplished. |
| 0:58.6 | Are we leaving? |
| 0:59.9 | Are the Iranians offering terms? |
| 1:03.0 | What do you imagine is going on with these misleading headlines? |
| 1:06.8 | Not purposely misleading, but they are misleading to conclude anything from these headlines. |
| 1:12.9 | Absolutely, John. I mean, it's not that the headlines intend to mislead. It is, of course, |
| 1:17.6 | that both the United States side and the Iranian side have a vested interest in hiding their |
| 1:23.8 | bottom line. So, you know, I think there are negotiations going on. I believe they |
| 1:28.5 | involve Mohamed Bagad Kalibaf, who is the current Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, previous |
| 1:34.6 | mayor of Tehran, previous candidate for president of Iran, somebody with a very strong IRGC background. |
| 1:42.2 | He's a hardliner, but of course, hardliners also have to |
| 1:47.1 | think about what the way forward is. And if the Iranians don't think they're winning, or if they |
| 1:52.7 | don't think that the US or Israel are ready to walk away and leave Iran with the opportunity |
| 1:59.3 | to claim victory just by virtue of survival, |
| 2:03.7 | well, then they will be interested in whether there is some kind of compromise. There were talks, |
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