Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks: A look at the White House

Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks: I do want to take a live look here at the White House as Iran’s Supreme Leader has now rejected President Trump’s demand for talks relating to a nuclear deal. We know that a letter was sent days ago, and we hadn’t heard any response from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks has been strongly expressed.

But now, we’ve learned from his office that he is not willing to speak with President Trump over that nuclear deal. There’s still a lot left to figure out here as we wait for President Trump’s response to that rejection. The White House faces backlash due to Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks: A look at the White House

We also know that Israel is going to send a negotiating team to Qatar tomorrow to continue efforts to extend the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

As always, there’s a lot to discuss out of the Middle East. So, I do want to bring in Mark Chandler, Director of Government Relations and Professor of Practice at Coastal Carolina University, also a former senior defense and intelligence official. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks reflects deep security concerns.

First off, I do want to talk about that rejection from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as it relates to President Trump’s request—or demand—for talks on a nuclear deal.

Now, we know that Trump did say just days ago that if Khamenei did not accept the request for talks, he could intervene militarily in Iran. So, what do you make of all of that?

Well, first off, I think Khamenei’s response to this gave a little bit of insight into what Trump’s letter said. If you recall, Trump didn’t disclose all the details, but obviously, it was to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons development and program completely. Netanyahu publicly voiced Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

And then also, I believe, because Khamenei said something about limiting missiles and limiting its engagements across the Middle East, it probably talked about Iranian missile development—because Iran has probably the largest, if not one of the largest, missile inventories in the world. And that’s how they’ll deliver these nuclear weapons when they develop them.

So, I think you see a little bit of Trump probably pushing across all the levers, if you will. And remember, he still has his maximum pressure campaign implemented since he took office. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks stems from being excluded.

That’s a lot of pressure on Khamenei. He spoke, and this is a definite position that Iran is going to take because, since Israel attacked them several months ago, they’ve been kind of—I don’t want to say neutered completely—but they’ve been on less solid ground in pushing their Shia Crescent across the Middle East.

Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Development

Now, if I can just talk about where they are in nuclear weapons development—because it’s important. The IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency (the UN nuclear watchdog, if you will), just released a report that said Iran now has enough enriched uranium to make six nuclear bombs. That’s up from just four a few months ago.

They’re at 60% enrichment. I don’t want to make this a physics class, but they need about three weeks to have weapons-grade uranium to make into bombs. So, that’s a significant step that shows they’re still making progress as they work their way through.

Potential U.S. Military Campaign Against Iran

If the U.S. was to conduct a military campaign—and there are contingencies that I won’t go into in detail—that would be an extensive campaign: an aerial bombardment across a lot of Iran, especially in the Espionage regions where there are deeply buried targets that are critical to the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

So, that would have to be an extensive series of airstrikes—whether they go by themselves or Israel cooperates in some way. But then, there are a lot of other targets around the country that the U.S. would have to strike now. And a lot of those are not disclosed.

So, there’s a lot of intelligence work to be done to find all those targets—whether they’re in military facilities or civilian facilities—and take them out. The State Department downplayed Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

For example, one that wasn’t widely reported when Israel struck back last year—they took out one building inside one complex in Iran that wasn’t talked much about, but it was actually key to nuclear weapons development.

So, you’ve got an extensive campaign ahead. Hopefully, they can come to some agreement that will actually stop Iranian nuclear weapons development—unlike the JCPOA under the Obama Administration. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks dominated diplomatic discussions.

As we look here on the left-hand side of your screen, you see that live look over the northern Gaza Strip. We know that talks, as I mentioned, are going to resume tomorrow over in Qatar, as you have the delegations for Israel as well as the spokespersons for the Hamas terror group meeting there to discuss what the next phase of the ceasefire deal is going to look like.

We know there’s been a lot of back-and-forth over the last week or so since that deal expired. Israel does want to remain in Phase 1, while Hamas wants to move on to Phase 2. Analysts say Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks is justified.

Are we any closer to an agreement here? What would an extension of Phase 1 look like? And what would it look like if we moved into Phase 2?

Well, Josh, that’s a great question. And I think right now, the fact that Israel is sending this team tomorrow to Doha—and let me point out, this is a significant team. This is the lead hostage negotiator for Israel and some very senior Shin Bet officials.

So, you’ve got a senior delegation that’s going to go talk to the Hamas mediators—the mediators and Hamas representatives. So, I think what you’re seeing is you’re either going to see Israel say, Okay, there’s a little bit of an opening here where we can maybe start talking about Phase 2—or they’re going to sit down and say, Okay, here’s the ultimate—we need to extend Phase 1.

And to answer your question about what that looks like—you know, that’s just basically every week releasing three Israeli hostages for a requisite number of Palestinian prisoners, as they did the first six weeks.

We’re literally in limbo right now—we’re not in Phase 1, but we’re not in Phase 2. And so, the fact that you’ve got two forces—both Hamas and the Israeli military—ready to fight at any moment, and we know Hamas has been making preparations to do so—these talks need to go well to kind of hold off any kind of future attack.

I also think, with the senior levels of this delegation, you’re seeing a little bit of Israel starting to put itself back up at the forefront—especially after what the U.S. did earlier this week by talking to Hamas separately.

U.S. Secret Talks with Hamas

The Times of Israel posted this story here—I want to get your take on it—as they say that Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer “lashed out” at the U.S. hostage envoy, Adam Bowler, about learning that he held direct talks with a senior Hamas delegation.

What does it say that the U.S. held these “secret talks”? And how does Israel feel about it? Because if that comment gives us any indication, they’re not happy about it. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks could strain alliances.

No, Israel is definitely not happy. And what I think you’re seeing play out publicly now is—if you recall, the U.S. did say that they were talking to Hamas after it was revealed, and they did say Israel knew beforehand. That is not true.

So, I think what you’re seeing is the U.S. kind of stepped on it a little bit by going—and actually, the U.S. violated a decades-old policy to not negotiate with terrorist organizations. The Pentagon acknowledged Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

So, you’ve got that as a backdrop. But the U.S. went in, and they tried to separately negotiate—or at least move toward the release of the remaining American hostages (one alive and four dead). Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks reached new heights this week.

And so, you kind of see that what this does—and I think Israel’s got a legitimate concern here—is it allows Hamas to maybe work a wedge between Israel and the United States in a negotiation, especially if the United States goes in and focuses on an American-only release but not the broader aspects of securing the remaining hostages in the ceasefire.

So, I think you could have a little bit of that playing out today. Hamas released a statement saying they enjoyed the talks with the United States, they appreciate the United States’ engagement to talk about elements of hostage release, and something might be worked out.

Having this come out right before the talks begin again tomorrow in Qatar—obviously, Hamas is trying to exploit that wedge. So, we’ll have to see how this plays out, but I think Israel’s got a legitimate beef here with the United States.

And I was going to say—what does it say to you overall that Hamas would release that statement and say, We enjoyed those talks with the U.S.? Is that kind of a dig at Israel to make them even angrier?

I absolutely think it is. You know, I don’t want to put the Israel-U.S. relations on any kind of bad footing, as they were in the Biden Administration. But this is kind of a public issue right now that needs to be worked through quickly.

And the U.S. and Israel need to publicly come out and reaffirm that they are moving together with a joint vision on how the rest of the negotiations are going to go in the hostage release—or Hamas will continue to play these games.

Houthi Threat to Resume Naval Operations

Let’s talk a little bit about the Houthis. We haven’t really discussed them in a while here, but the Houthi terror group is threatening Israel that it’s going to resume its naval operations if Israel does not lift its blockade of aid in Gaza within a few days.

I know at one point it was four days—I guess right now we might be down to two or three days. But what do you make of all of that overall? Can you explain why that is the case?

Well, you know, the Houthis—first off, no one’s really bothered the Houthis since about January 10th when the U.S., UK, and Israel all conducted some serious strikes against Houthi infrastructure.

Now, since the start of the ceasefire, the Houthis just said they will support the ceasefire—they will not do any attacks as long as the ceasefire is in place. Media outlets extensively covered Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

And so, last week, as Israel was saying, Let’s stay in Phase 1, and they began to blockade to try to force Hamas to stay in Phase 1 and talk at the tables—that’s when I think the Houthis are now coming out with a threat.

Also, perhaps overlooked a little bit, the U.S. formally designated—through State Department channels—the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization this week. So, that now implements multiple sanctions on the Houthis, and it also starts to implement sanctions and push back—or retribution, if you will—if there are any third countries that are starting to deal with the Houthis.

Now, this is much stronger than it ever was in the Biden Administration. So, you’ve got to see now the Houthis are playing out—since they haven’t been attacked, as I said, since January. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks prompted emergency meetings.

What I would have to say is the Houthis have been consolidating their positions, consolidating what weapons they have—missiles, attack UAVs, and those attack unmanned boats.

And so, I know that they have several still left at their disposal. They can attack—they have attacked Israel before. They’ve actually killed some Israelis, caused damage.

So, I think if they decide—and you’re right, two to three days now—if they follow through with this threat, they could quickly mount an attack that could go against Israel and then some of the shipping into the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

So, you’ve got to look at that. Unless something happens, they can attack. It won’t be as extensive as they were before, but they will be able to do it. The Knesset unanimously shared Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks.

Israel doesn’t need that right now. Israel’s focus is on Hezbollah—they’ve got that going. They’ve got Hamas—they’re working on that. Israel can handle it. They just don’t need this additional burden to start to have to deal with the Houthis again.

Hezbollah Ceasefire Status

as you mentioned, this is kind of the first time we’re talking about the Houthis in quite a while. Also, it’s been fairly quiet with Hezbollah. So, I did want to ask you about the latest developments there. Is that ceasefire still intact?

Well, I think if we’ve got any really good news to work through, that ceasefire is intact. Now, as I’ve said before, it’s not a complete cessation of hostilities.

Hezbollah is still trying to do some things in southern Lebanon—work supplies in there. And when that’s identified, Israel is either doing a preemptive strike on the terrorist cell that’s doing something or quickly counter-striking.

The Lebanese Army is stepping up. They’re still not fully capable of everything. And Israel occupies about five key villages in southern Lebanon that actually were Hezbollah strongholds to attack Israel.

And until those can be secured—with everybody’s mutual agreement that Israel can stay there—I think you’re going to see that play out very well. And right now, that’s probably the least of Israel’s concerns out there.

Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks: Final Thoughts

Mark Chandler there with Coastal Carolina University—a good friend of the show, always helping break down the latest elements there in the Middle East.

Anything else you want to add about any of this? Obviously, a lot going on. But anything you want to add before I let you go?

Josh, as we can see, there’s a lot of dynamics at play here—the U.S.-Israel alliance, how we go into negotiation this week is going to play things out.

You saw this week a big move by the Arab states—an Egypt proposal to try to work through and see if they can come to some sort of agreement on rebuilding Gaza. The U.S. and Israel turned that down.

So, you still have a lot of issues. This is a long way from being solved out there. And so, I think you have to kind of look at how the balance is going to play out—what a realistic assessment for tomorrow looks like, and then what it looks like five years down the road.

And I think both sides—the Arab states, the U.S., perhaps even the European countries—need to really come together and come up with some sort of realistic, acceptable proposal to everyone out there. But it’s a challenge, definitely.

And as you mentioned, the U.S. and Israel rejecting that—and then you have several European nations that have said they are all for it. So, we’ll keep an eye on that situation as it does develop there. Israel’s anger over Iran-US talks reflects historical tensions.

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