Iran Calls on the US to Adopt 'Realistic, Pragmatic' Approach

The head of the Iranian delegation, Ali Bagheri-Kani, leaving the last round of negotiations in Vienna (EPA)
The head of the Iranian delegation, Ali Bagheri-Kani, leaving the last round of negotiations in Vienna (EPA)
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Iran Calls on the US to Adopt 'Realistic, Pragmatic' Approach

The head of the Iranian delegation, Ali Bagheri-Kani, leaving the last round of negotiations in Vienna (EPA)
The head of the Iranian delegation, Ali Bagheri-Kani, leaving the last round of negotiations in Vienna (EPA)

The process of examining the ideas proposed by the European Union coordinator started immediately after the return of the Iranian negotiating delegation from Vienna, reported Nour News.

The website, affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, indicated that immediately after the return of the Iranian negotiating delegation from Vienna, the process of examining the ideas proposed by the EU coordinator is ongoing at the expert level.

It also noted that no high-level meeting has yet been held in Tehran to review the ideas of the coordinator, and according to the usual procedure, after the completion of the expert review process.

The final assessment will present the preliminary results to the appropriate decision-making levels.

Iranian media quoted Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying that Iran had sent a message to the US through European officials.

In a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Abdollahian said: "We hope that the American side creates the situation for agreeing on the final text by adopting a realistic and pragmatic approach toward the rightful and legal demands of Iran."

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said that Cavusoglu expressed his hope that the negotiations would end soon, achieving the rights of the Iranian people and the common interests of all parties.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television quoted Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, as saying there is a possibility of rewriting the 2015 nuclear agreement, stressing the need to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue sooner or later.

Ulyanov wondered whether the text announced by the EU is "final," noting that some amendments had been done to the deal in March before the negotiations faltered.

The diplomat reiterated Russia's support for the Iranian position in the negotiations.

He said that all parties must be satisfied with the final text, especially Iran, saying Tehran is a victim of the US' maximum pressure policy and has the right to express its positions.

"If Iran wants to make changes in the text, it will have our support."

Notably, major media websites in Iran protested the final text submitted by the European Union (EU) at the end of the round of Vienna negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement.

"Kayhan" newspaper, which is closely affiliated to the cleric-led country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that the EU's proposal for brokering a deal is "catastrophic" and "damaging," adding that talks "have yet to yield a result that Iran wants."

Nournews website said the EU as the coordinator of the talks lacked the authority to “present its proposals as the final text.”

The vice-chairman of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Ibrahim Azizi, said that the Commission has yet to receive any final text or draft from the negotiations.

"The final text must provide for our national interests and the strategic goals of the regime," said Azizi, adding that the Iranian Foreign Minister and his deputy will attend a meeting for the National Security parliamentary committee.



Trump Team Says Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal Brokered by Biden Is Actually Trump’s Win

Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Trump Team Says Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal Brokered by Biden Is Actually Trump’s Win

Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)

The Biden administration kept President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect early Wednesday, according to the outgoing Democratic administration.

Trump’s team, meanwhile, was quick to spike the football and claim credit for the rare spot of good news for a Democratic administration that's been dragged down by the grinding Mideast conflict.

"Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump," Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said in a post on X on Tuesday, shortly before the Israel Cabinet signed off on the agreement. "His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East."

The Biden administration's reported coordination with Trump's team on its efforts to forge the ceasefire in Lebanon is perhaps the highest-profile example of cooperation in what's been a sometimes choppy transition period.

Trump's transition team just Tuesday reached a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House that will allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. There has been some coordination on high levels between the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump teams, including talks between Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Waltz.

Biden in Rose Garden remarks on Tuesday cheered the ceasefire agreement as a critical step that he hoped could be the catalyst for a broader peace in the Mideast, which has been shaken by nearly 14 months of war following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed — I emphasize, will not be allowed — to threaten the security of Israel again."

White House officials are now hopeful that a calm in Lebanon will reinvigorate a multi-country effort at finding an endgame to the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable.

Biden said the US, as well as Israel, will engage in talks in the coming days with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye to try to get Gaza talks back on track.

But during Biden's moment of success in a conflict that has roiled his reputation at home and abroad, the specter of the incoming Trump administration loomed large.

Trump’s senior national security team was briefed by the Biden administration as negotiations unfolded and finally came to a conclusion on Tuesday, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on a call organized by the White House, added that the incoming Trump administration officials were not directly involved in the talks, but that it was important that they knew "what we were negotiating and what the commitments were."

Trump's team and allies, meanwhile, said there was no doubt that the prospect of the Republican president returning to power pushed both sides to get the agreement done.

Waltz, in addition to giving Trump credit for the ceasefire deal coming together, added a warning to Iran, Hezbollah's chief financial backer.

"But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism," Waltz said in his post.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, also gave a shoutout to the incoming administration, while giving a nod to Biden's team.

"I appreciate the hard work of the Biden Administration, supported by President Trump, to make this ceasefire a reality," Graham said in a statement.

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Washington group Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the moment magnifies that Iran — which he said would have needed to approve of Hezbollah agreeing to the ceasefire — is carefully weighing what lays ahead with Trump.

"There’s zero doubt that Iran is pulling back to regroup ahead of Trump coming into office," said Goldberg, a National Security Council official in Trump's first administration. "It’s a combination of Israeli military success and Trump’s election — the ayatollah has no clothes and he knows we know."