US Senator Calls for Additional Pressure on Iran

A general view of the sun rising behind the White House in Washington, US January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A general view of the sun rising behind the White House in Washington, US January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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US Senator Calls for Additional Pressure on Iran

A general view of the sun rising behind the White House in Washington, US January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A general view of the sun rising behind the White House in Washington, US January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Republican Senator Jim Risch criticized the progress of negotiations with Iran in Vienna. In exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said that talks with Tehran continued to stumble, noting that officials in the administration of President Joe Biden “disagree about the American approach.”

The administration should intensify pressure on Iran and set a specific date for ending negotiations, applying sanctions, imposing additional ones, and adopting a policy of deterrence in the region, he stressed.

Risch, a senior Republican in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, considered that the recent attacks in Al Dhafra (in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi), where US forces are stationed, increased the need for a strong response.

If the Iranian regime refuses to come to the table, the US must be ready to leave the negotiations, he underlined.

Meanwhile, recent statements about the nuclear negotiations reaching a “dangerous crossroads” reflect concern not only of Washington’s allies, but also of the US negotiating team itself.

The US State Department confirmed in press statements the resignation of Richard Nephew, the deputy US special envoy for Iran, which reflects deep differences over the management of the nuclear talks.

While the Wall Street Journal confirmed that two other members of the negotiating team led by Robert Malley had also withdrawn, as they insisted on a “tougher” position with Iran, the newspaper revealed that the nuclear talks had entered a critical stage.

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Institute for Defense of Democracies in Washington and former director of the Iran Accountability for Weapons of Mass Destruction division at the National Security Council, said that all signs pointed to “increasing desperation” on the part of the US team for any agreement they can get with Iran.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that this would allow the Iranian regime to preserve more of its nuclear gains and obtain more economic benefits at the same time.

According to Goldberg, Richard Nephew was removed from his post last month, and the administration did not plan to announce it. He argued that Nephew’s departure meant that he likely objected to the United States offering terms that come in contradiction with long-term nonproliferation goals and undermine the IAEA’s investigation into Iran’s undeclared nuclear sites, materials, and activities.

Nephew, who had called for a tougher stance in the current negotiations, had not attended the talks in Vienna since early December, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The divisions come at a critical time, with US and European officials warning that there were only a few weeks left to save the 2015 deal before Iran acquired the knowledge and ability to produce nuclear fuel that would allow it to build a nuclear bomb in no time.

Among the points of contention within the US team - informed sources said - is the disagreement over the firmness of enforcing existing sanctions and whether negotiations should be cut short due to the progress of Iran’s nuclear program.

Some members of the US team called for an end to negotiations with Tehran after it reneged on most of the pledges made by the previous Iranian government, led by President Hassan Rouhani. Others argued that it would be impossible to restore the primary objective of the 2015 agreement, i.e. Iran remaining 12 months away from having enough nuclear fuel to build a nuclear weapon.



Trump Envoy Arrives in Kyiv as US Pledges Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Trump Envoy Arrives in Kyiv as US Pledges Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

US President Donald Trump´s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration´s policy on the more than three-year war.

Trump last week teased that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin´s unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.

Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections”, AFP said.

But Russia´s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump´s patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to "STOP!" launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader " has gone absolutely CRAZY!" as the bombardments continued.

"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late Sunday. "He´ll talk so beautifully and then he´ll bomb people at night. We don´t like that."

Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine badly needed US-made Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia´s intensifying aerial attacks.

Trump said that the European Union will pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry it is sending.

However, the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons. EU member countries are buying and sending weapons to Ukraine, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons. EU countries set up the European Peace Facility so that countries which supply arms to Ukraine could be refunded to backfill their own stocks.

Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.

That has happened at the same time as Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It´s a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.

"In the coming days, you´ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS´ "Face the Nation." He added: "One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there´s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin´s envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.

"Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure," Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. "This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means."

"Equal dialogue, mutual respect, realism and economic cooperation are the foundations of global security," he added, echoing comments by Putin.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. He planned to hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of Congress.

Talks during Kellogg´s visit to Kyiv will cover "defense, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," said the head of Ukraine´s presidential office, Andrii Yermak.

"Russia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump´s principle, and we support this approach," Yermak said.

Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor´s office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said.

Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.