Posted on 04/18/2026 11:18:18 AM PDT by xxqqzz
s the Trump administration weighs a second round of U.S.-Iran talks, the failure of negotiations in Pakistan is fueling concern about whether its envoys can deliver a deal.
Former diplomats tell TIME that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who led the Iran negotiations with Vice President JD Vance, lack the expertise and diplomatic experience needed to secure an agreement. That, they warn, risks prolonging the war and further destabilizing the global economy.
“Iran and the U.S. under Kushner and Witkoff? Failure. They get an F in diplomacy,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US State Department Middle East negotiator who served six secretaries of state.
Miller pointed to Kushner and Witkoff’s track record, citing failed negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas as Israel continued its strikes in Gaza. He argued that while even the most experienced negotiators would face steep challenges in such conflicts, Kushner and Witkoff failed to convey to either side the sense of urgency that a desirable deal was within reach—an essential condition for pushing negotiations forward.
“You accept the notion that a successful negotiation, if you have urgency, is based on finding some balance of interest between the parties. If you want out of this, I think they're going to have to come up with something that allows the Iranians to say they won something,” Miller said, while suggesting that one possible concession could be giving Iran a pathway to resume uranium enrichment at a much later date.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
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What is there to negotiate?
Like the guys before have done so well. 47 years of the Iranian BS. “Find a balance.. “ that’s the problem thinking right there. Did we find “ a balance” with Japan or Germany?
The deep State globalist “Diplomats” are uncomfortable?
Sounds like MAGA is working.
In the original Star Trek episode is “A Taste of Armageddon” (Season 1, Episode 23, 1967) Kirk says to Spock that deaths in battle are made meaningless by diplomats who bargain away what was gained at great sacrifice.
Even the humanist and woke Gene Roddenberry allowed that sentiment in his series.
If the diplomats way is what works, then why are we here having to blow things up.
“I think they’re going to have to come up with something that allows the Iranians to say they won something,” Miller said
Says it all.
Trump/USA will negotiate as they see fit.
Somebody tell Miller that Iran is a bunch of losers.
Oh, wait ... Trump already did.
Multiple times.
Was going to post the same sentiment.
State Department hasnt done us any favors either.
Foggy Bottom “professional diplomats” voicing their “fears”????
If progress is slow with the evil Iranian government, it only probably means they are standing their ground and NOT selling out the American people, as they usually do.
This is State Department career diplomat whining.
They think they are the “experts” and only they should be doing this so their leftard buddies in the comically failed and out of date “newsmagazine” Time pushing their line for them.
When there’s a deal they will complain about that. On and on, ad infinitum. It’s not well intentioned rational criticism, it’s agitprop designed to undermine anything that Trump does.
:: This is State Department career diplomat whining. ::
Which tells me that there is some value of money-laundering going on (arms is likely).
“What is there to negotiate?”
Yep, it matters not what these 7th century barbarians agree to or not as they won’t honor the agreement anyway. The only real way for the foreseeable future is to bomb them to oblivion every couple years and we know that is never going to happen.
If Deep State’s striped pants brigade is unhappy...
I’m delighted.
Maybe Trump isn’t negotiating. Maybe he’s squaring off for the next phase. More aircraft than could be made ready in a month. A ground force to provide him with more options, perhaps to raid Iranian nuclear complexes and turn them to rubble with literal tons of high explosives using tracked drones.
Any country can do piracy. Somalia and Yemen, both failed states, did piracy for years. Easy to resolve through attrition, but takes time. For Trump, the ceasefire was an attempt to dial down these attacks, to get oil prices down. For Iran, it was for the leadership to not get bombed, while they tried to (1) root out who was snitching on their whereabouts and (2) find new hiding places.
Even boxers need breaks between rounds. But each break eventually ends, and the bout resumes.
They've been reporting they've won "everything" from the start. What world does this guy exist in?
while suggesting that one possible concession could be giving Iran a pathway to resume uranium enrichment at a much later date.
Oh, that's brilliant...
TIME thinks we should listen to these guys?
these guys know failure real well.
State is filled with DEEP STATE. CIA took it over long ago.
Let’s believe what Time has to say. Speaking of which, is that rag still around?
It’s just a lot easier with Unconditional Surrender.
Ask Grant.
skin in the game ?
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