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Political Commentator 1
Donald Trump's plan regarding the peace talks in Switzerland utterly failed. You see, from the very beginning, Donald Trump actually worked passive aggressively to try to blow up the peace talks in Switzerland between the United States and Iran, which were being mediated by Pakistan and Qatar. So Donald Trump started posting early in the morning on social media attacks directed at Iran. And then again, passive aggressively, Donald Trump calls up state regime media, which calls itself Fox, and starts to say things like, we're going to kill the Iranian negotiators. The United States will take over the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump wanted to act like a tough guy and he sent J.D. vance out there. And I think Donald Trump's plan was just blow up these peace talks, but not have the courage to just affirmatively say the peace talks are off. So that's how Donald Trump was behaving. Of course, Iran responded by temporarily suspending the negotiations. In Lacerne, Switzerland, the Iranian delegation issued a protest to the mediators, Pakistan and Qatar. Clearly, when you can visually see the mediators from Pakistan and from Qatar, they were like, livid and pissed that Donald Trump was behaving in this way as they were trying to advance peace talks. But ultimately, Iran went in these negotiations with a plan, really unlike the United States, which kind of went there haphazardly. One of the key things Iran wanted to make sure was implemented is the official waivers to all of these sanctions that are against Iran and that have been placed Iran over the last several decades. I think Iran realizes that given the fact that Donald Trump is a malignant, narcissistic psychopath and Netanyahu bootlicker, that Donald Trump likely won't be able to comply, nor can he ever comply with deal
Political Commentator 2
terms, but specifically comply with the terms of this mou. But I think Iran saying, while the
Political Commentator 1
United States is not in compliance, let's still work to get sanctions removed to get the oil out of Carg island, which has been sitting here.
Political Commentator 2
Iran's been able to get out around 30 million barrels of oil already through the Strait of Hormuz since part of the mou, the US Agreed to remove the blockade.
Political Commentator 1
So you see Iranian ship after Iranian ship leaving Karg and getting out there.
Political Commentator 2
So Iran's making a lot of money right now. And when the US Remains in violation of the mou, by way of example,
Political Commentator 1
Netanyahu continuing to escalate in Lebanon under
Political Commentator 2
the pretense of, okay, we're going after Hezbollah, but they're killing hundreds and even thousands of innocent people in Lebanon as
Political Commentator 1
well, that we've been covering here in detail.
Political Commentator 2
Iran can say, all right, our ships get to go out. Let's get Iranian 30 billion barrels of oil, remove sanctions against us. But United States, you still need to clear clause one or article one of this memorandum of understanding, which is get Israel to stop invading Lebanon, because as long as you're in violation of Article 1, we're not going to open up the Strait of Hormuz, and we're going to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. And as Donald Trump's been saying in the G7, the US is days away, weeks at most, but likely days away from being in an economic Great Depression and hitting tank bottom. So Iran knows how desperate the U.S. so Iran's like, look, Donald Trump may be trying to blow this thing up, but let's utilize this negotiation for our benefit. We already have this mou, which clearly favors Iran, but let's make sure we can implement at least the sanctions waiver part. While we know the US isn't going to make it to the 60 days. I think that's what Iran's kind of negotiating posture is. And then you have Iran's Foreign Minister Aragi kind of admitting as much. And also, I think Iran showing itself on the world stage the way it did on Sunday, where it refused to be photographed with J.D. vance. When J.D.
Political Commentator 1
vance walked in the room after Donald
Political Commentator 2
Trump made these threats against Iran, Iran made JD Vance and the United States delegation wait in the room first for
Political Commentator 1
Iran to show up.
Political Commentator 2
Then Iran kind of in a uniform way walked out.
Political Commentator 1
And J.D.
Political Commentator 2
vance was looking around like, you know, Iran's walking out on me. Yeah. So Iran was also able to project a level of strength also during these
Political Commentator 1
negotiations that I think it wanted to show.
Political Commentator 2
So Iran went in there with an agenda. Right. Let's look strong on the world stage, not just equal in power to the United States, but let's project that we're stronger than the United States. I mean, do you think they did that? I mean, I think. Check. Let's extract those sanctions waivers that are in the MoU, because at a technical level, things have to happen to literally inform the banks, remove these sanctions and, you know, United nations, iaea, other entities remove these sanctions. So Iran very methodically going through these decades of sanctions, getting rid of those, making sure Iran gets its oil out, and then saying to the U.S. look, you want us to talk about the nuclear file?
ICCU Representative
Sure.
Political Commentator 2
But you got to get Israel out of Lebanon, because we believe these are inextricably intertwined. And Iran's already said, look, we'll downgrade, we'll down blend, we'll dilute the nuclear material, but we're still going to enrich. I mean, that's. That's in the mou. So that, to me, was the broader plan right here. And then I think you had the Pakistani and Qatari negotiators telling, you know, there was a moment, too, where, you know, they were obviously huddling up, and I think, you know, Pakistan, Qatar, Al Thani and Sharif, they were like, look, you don't fall into the trap. Iran, you know that Netanyahu, the neocons, Mossad, you know, the Israeli interests in the United States, you know, they want this to fail. Like, the objective is to blow up these peace talks. So, yes, lodge your protest, walk out, but then come back. Because if you truly walk out and you don't come back, the only people who are gonna win here is this is what Netanyahu wants. This is Netanyahu's plan with the MAGA influencers and Mark Levin and Marco Rubio. This is their. Don't fall into the trap. And I think Iran intuitively knew, okay, that is the Netanyahu trap. They want this to fail. Trump was trying to make it fail, but, you know, I mean, he's a psychopath no matter what, you know, and a warmonger one day, and then the next day, the stock market, and he's manipulating the market. So Iran knows what they're dealing with, in my view. I just, you know, I want to bring out the receipts, though, to. To kind of prove this theory correct. I don't think it's theory, just it's the facts. Show it to you, right? Donald Trump wakes up in the morning. Iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard, just like we did last week, only harder. Djt. Now, we know that Lindsey Graham has been hanging out with Donald Trump over the past few days. Lindsey Graham went on the morning shows and said that he was with Donald Trump. We think this deal's gonna fail. Then we'll take over the Strait of Hormuz and we'll put tolls against Iran. To me, all of that right there is coming from Netanyahu as well. Iran lodges its protests, they walk out. Lots of people say, you know, I guess these. I guess the mediation in LA and Switzerland is over. It's not Iran then comes back, and then I think they got it. We made our point. We. We're in the driver's seat of these negotiations. Let's extract benefits. Let's get things. So Iran comes back. MB Gallo, BA Feron's parliament leader, puts out the statement. Don't they think to themselves that if their threats had any result, they wouldn't have reach? Today's desperation? We do not take the American threats into account at all. It would be better for them to watch their statements carefully. Carefully. Our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different way. No matter how much they talk, it is we who act. He says that Trump goes silent. Um, Trump was. Before that, Donald Trump was calling Fox and saying, we're gonna kill him. Watch your mouth. All of these things. Iran says that they show they'll stand up to the United States, but look who Iran had in the room. This is why I'm telling you what Iran's goal was. They know the U. S. Isn't gonna make it to the six days. But Iran's like, let's use these 60 days to get all the sanctions removed, to get our tanks out, to get our tankers out. Let's get everything we can right now. Because think about the decades of sanctions that prevented them from doing this stuff. The CEO of Iran's national oil company was in Switzerland, and he said, since last Monday, our ships have passed 25 million barrels of oil through the previous US blockade line, and now it's probably over 30 million barrels. Iran's various social media accounts put out statements like this, sorry, we have not traveled all this way to take photos with American war criminals. And they refused to take photos with J.D.
Political Commentator 1
vance.
Political Commentator 2
And you had, like, J.D. vance in the U. S There wanting to get photos with Iran. And Iran was like, look, we'll negotiate with you behind the scenes, but no photo ops, please. No photo ops. And Iran was using that to their advantage for their audience at home and to the Middle east to project strength against the United States, previously the world superpower. Then you have Iran's foreign minister who talks about the negotiating plan. And the negotiating plan for Iran was simple. We're focused on Article 13 today. Article 13 says that before we get to a final deal, the US must basically prove itself by ensuring that Article 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 are complied with. Trump has to pass these tests. And these tests involve removing all of the sanctions against Iran. Get making sure Israel leaves Lebanon, not threatening. Not threatening us, removing the blockade. So Iran's like, these things need to happen. First prove yourself and then we'll get to the point where we'll talk about the nuclear fire. But when Iran says we'll talk about the nuclear file, what they're referring to is just down blending, diluting, still enriching, but basically what the JCPOA had. So, you know, you have late at night, going into the early hours of the morning, you see Iran's delegation in this hotel in Switzerland. You have JD Vance, Al Thani and Jared Kushner. I mean, they look like. That's a lawyer. So this reminds me of a scene when I was like working as a third year associate at a law firm. This is what this reminds me of over here. But you have that image of them together working through these statements. You have the MAGA influencers who are seemingly spewing Netanyahu and Israeli talking points here are out there with the same message. JD Vance is busy getting embarrassed. This was a humiliation ritual for J.D. vance. Look how Qatar's Prime Minister snubs Vance. I can't believe Vance is getting humiliated this way. Watch JV Vance humiliate himself. You all know, look, I'm no fan of JD Vance. I think that would be putting it lightly. I despise the guy. I think that he also has no real identity. He shape shifts and I think he's a horrible person who's caused so much damage to our country. But These attacks on J.D. vance seem more attacks. And I'll, I'll talk about this in the next video. I'll do more attacks on the overall peace process to try to blow it up, because that seemed to be coordinated with. At the same time, you have Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz. We will never remove the IDF soldiers from Lebanon. We will not follow the ceasefire. We will never withdraw Netanyahu. As long as we need to protect our people, we will remain in the security zone. The reason is perfectly understood. No country would be asked to do otherwise. Israel's National Security Minister, Ben gvir, Lebanon, all Lebanon should become our target, our playground. And they tell me, wait, there is Lebanon and then. And there is Hezbollah. No, I do not accept this artificial approach. Right, so you have, you have, you know, Israel pushing that message. The message was escalate the rhetoric, derail the process and the prospect of peace right there and then for the coup de grace, what Donald Trump wanted to do also, and this was part of the plan that backfired. Donald Trump said, you know what, we're going to pass the Hezbollah file, or like going after Hezbollah to Syria's President Ahmed Al. Now, Ahmed Al Shara used to be an Al Qaeda fighter. He was obviously embroiled in the Syrian civil war on the side that ultimately toppled Assad. And part of the civil war. Hezbollah was basically fighting Ahmed Al Shara's side of it. And so Donald Trump believes, I'm going to go get Ahmed Al Shara of Syria, have him replace Netanyahu, and Shara will be my guy to go and invade Lebanon, and I'll have Syria invade Lebanon and attack Hezbollah. We know that because the Fox host this morning said that Donald Trump called me. He's talking about empowering the Syrian president to actually go into southern Lebanon and fight Hezbollah. Now, the Syrian president, Ahmed Al Shara, he actually gave a very dignified and responsible interview, and here's what he said. We have enough courage that if we wanted to enter a conflict of war, we would say so openly in Syria. We intend nothing but good for our people in Lebanon, and we wish them nothing but a happy life. Syria's role is purely a positive one, defined by Lebanese and Syrian interests. Over the coming years, many wars that stumble or fail to achieve their full objective and results end with both sides celebrating victory. In my view, all parties lose in futile wars. From the very beginning, this war contained many mistakes, referring to Trump's invasion of Iran. Whether in its objectives or in its foundation and formation, we never encourage that. On the contrary war, we work to prevent it and to keep negotiations alive because the region has paid a heavy price for wars. Why is Lebanon always forced to choose between civil war and an Israeli war? Why can't there not be a third option? Let us search for a third option and reach an agreement with Lebanon to move beyond the current crisis into a stable environment. Especially now that the Syrian situation, which for years was a major pressure on Lebanese politics, politics has changed completely. I believe that Hezbollah's decision to enter the Syrian conflict was wrong. And I believe that everyone realizes this, including the party's own constituency and even its leaders. Many perceptions can be mistaken and lead people to make wrong decisions, but entire nations end up paying the price. I believe there is a deep Syrian wound that is still alive today. People are still searching for the bones of their son in the streets, in burial sites, and in mass graves. The party participated in this major crime that occurred in Syria. But we do not want Lebanon to fall into what Syria fell into in the past. The consequence of wars and conflicts are bloody and devastating. The time has come for the region to move beyond wars and conflicts and turn toward development and reconstruction. And we possess the tools to do so. So we're trying to build economic links, not military ones, with Lebanon. Historically, Beirut has been a maritime gateway of Damascus, and Tripoli has been the maritime gateway of Homs. Syria is now becoming a strategic regional and international hub linking east and West. The Mediterranean coast has become extremely important for trade, supply chains, logistics. And Lebanon should benefit from this reality. We have already tried the military path and witnessed its disasters and tragedies. Let us try the economic path instead. We have a deep problem with Hezbollah, but we do not want all of Lebanon to die. We want to solve the problem of Hezbollah while keeping Lebanon alive. If the need arises for us to sit with Hezbollah. I believe in dialogue, yes, even between opposing parties. Dialogue should remain open and continue even during war and conflict, because the alternative is war. Today, the situation in Lebanon requires joint solutions. And it is entirely possible to rely on Syria in the search for security path toward a solution. But this does not mean war, nor does it mean a return to the previous image of Syrian tutelage during the former regime era in Lebanon. Rather, it means supporting the Lebanese state, strengthening its institutions, and building channels of communications among the political parties and active forces in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, in search of a security solution that everyone can accept. It's really smart language right there from Syria. And while he was saying that, pay attention to what was going on yesterday as well. Where there was a meeting in Cairo, Egypt, where you had Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistani foreign ministers meeting together, calling for the rapid conclusion to the next phases of negotiations in Iran, while stressing that regional concerns must be taken into account. As Babak Vahad, who's great reporter, says, the message is subtle but significant. The countries that help broker the process are signaling that they expect to have a voice not only in ending the crisis, but also in shaping what comes next. The Cairo meeting that just took place yesterday, while you had the meeting taking place in Switzerland, resembles a parallel diplomatic track to the talks underway in Geneva or Lucerne, providing a regional framework of support for the Iran US Negotiations being facilitated by Islam, Abad and Doha. In other words, those Middle east countries are working together in order to try to effectuate a situation where they will not allow the United States to return to war because they will put a joint position forward. Now. Finally, Foreign Minister Aragchi announced success at the negotiation in Switzerland for Iran. This is what they were after, and they achieved goals and objectives for Iran. Here's what Aragchi says. Tireless Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress to end the Lebanon war. Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction and development plan launched for Iran. The first real test now, Lebanon deconfliction cell, in other words, getting Israel out of Lebanon and ensuring that there's a real cease fire in Lebanon. But Iran is saying we got things out of this as well. And this is what I think Israel was trying to blow up and they almost did. But Iran's like, no, we're going to negotiate this thing and we're going to get what we need right now and let's play this out a little longer. So Qatar and Pakistan released a joint statement announcing the conclusion of the latest Lake Lausanne summit and the first high level committee meeting involving the United States. The statement that was put out says the parties agreed to a 60 day roadmap toward a final deal, further technical talks, a communication line to help ensure safe commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and the creation of a deconfliction cell focused on Lebanon. And so it goes through kind of more of a framework, more technical discussions, a lot of word salad in this joint statement that was ultimately issued. But if you look at some of the tangible stuff, removing certain sanctions and which was in the MoU, but at a technical level, the waivers themselves, making sure Iran gets its oil out and then which I think could be a benefit generally, just being blunt is Article 5 of the MOU deals with the other tankers leaving the Strait of Hormuz, creating a mechanism and structure to get other ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, which again, I despise. J.D. vance and Kushner and all of them. I want, call me old fashioned, I want to see peace because I don't want to see more suffering for people of the world or in, especially in the United States, but throughout the world in general right now. So that's where we are right now. I think the plan to try to blow this thing up failed. I think this will, we'll see this continue to happen and you know, we'll wake up in the morning and Trump will post something else. They have no doubt about it. But Iran went in with the plan and effectuated the plan, you know, and the question is, is, you know, what's our plan? Is our plan just Donald Trump, you know, doing psycho posts every day? Probably, probably. But you know, I, you saw how we looked on the world stage right there, especially relative to Iran. You tell me what you think in the comments. Well hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million. Thanks for watching everyone. We appreciate you. New Midas merch head to store.midas touch.com today and get yourself the best pro democracy gear and show your support. That's store.midas touch.com.
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Date: June 22, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett & Jordy Meiselas (MeidasTouch Network)
This episode dives deep into the unraveling of Donald Trump's approach to the Iran-US peace negotiations in Switzerland, focusing on how Iran capitalized on the disarray of the U.S. delegation. The Meiselas brothers (primarily Ben and Brett in the transcript) dissect the political maneuvering, the failed attempts by Trump to derail the talks, the embarrassed position of J.D. Vance, the regionally significant responses from Iran and Syria, and the broader implications for peace in the Middle East—specifically regarding Lebanon, sanctions relief for Iran, and the wider international response. The brothers’ unique blend of political savvy and candid, unfiltered commentary is present throughout.
[02:46–05:00]
“We're going to kill the Iranian negotiators. The United States will take over the Strait of Hormuz.”
(Political Commentator, 02:55)
[05:00–08:29]
Iran entered negotiations with a plan—unlike the “haphazard” U.S.—focusing on:
Iran’s dual-track: extracting as many benefits as possible during the “60-day window” before anticipated U.S. non-compliance.
“Iran's making a lot of money right now… as long as you’re in violation of Article 1, we're not going to open up the Strait of Hormuz.”
(Political Commentator, 05:34; 05:58)
Projection of strength by Iran—snubbing US delegation and refusing photo ops with J.D. Vance to display dominance to both domestic and regional audiences.
“Sorry, we have not traveled all this way to take photos with American war criminals.”
(Iran social media, relayed by host, 12:36)
[07:18–12:36]
Iran and the mediators publicly snubbed Vance—delaying meetings, walking out, refusing joint photos.
Seen as a strategic humiliation, both for show and to message strength.
“J.D. Vance was looking around like, you know, Iran’s walking out on me… This was a humiliation ritual for J.D. Vance.”
(Political Commentator, 07:35, 12:19)
[08:29–10:17]
U.S. escalation fueled by Netanyahu-aligned voices (Fox News, MAGA influencers, key senators).
Israeli leaders publicly reject terms:
“We will never remove the IDF soldiers from Lebanon. We will not follow the ceasefire.”
(Israel’s Defense Minister, paraphrased, 12:50)
Pressure to derail the peace process described as a “Netanyahu trap” for all parties.
“Don't fall into the trap… The only people who are gonna win here is… Netanyahu.”
(Political Commentator, 08:30)
[12:54–19:42]
Trump attempted to bypass Netanyahu by empowering Syria’s President Ahmed Al Shara to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al Shara rejected escalation, advocating peace, economic development, and dialogue:
“We intend nothing but good for our people in Lebanon… In my view, all parties lose in futile wars… The time has come for the region to move beyond wars and conflicts and turn toward development and reconstruction.”
(President Ahmed Al Shara, 16:11–17:54)
Syria pushing for economic ties and regional stability instead of warfare.
[19:42–22:24]
Parallel diplomatic track in Cairo: Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan coordinated positions to reinforce the peace process, emphasizing regional solutions over external (U.S./Israeli) escalation.
Middle East nations working to prevent U.S. return to open conflict.
“The message is subtle but significant… they expect to have a voice not only in ending the crisis, but also in shaping what comes next.”
(Host citing reporter Babak Vahad, 20:35)
[22:24–25:46]
Iran’s Foreign Minister Aragchi’s statement:
“Tireless Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress… Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction and development plan launched for Iran.”
(Foreign Minister Aragchi, summarized by host, 23:54)
Qatar and Pakistan joint statement:
The MeidasTouch take: Trump (and his allies’) attempts to sabotage talks ultimately failed. Iran emerged from this round strengthened, with tangible wins, and regional support is coalescing around peace rather than war.
On Iran’s position:
“Iran kind of in a uniform way walked out. J.D. Vance was looking around like, you know, Iran’s walking out on me.”
(Political Commentator 2, 07:31–07:35)
On negotiating strategy:
“Let’s use these 60 days to get all the sanctions removed, to get our tanks out, to get our tankers out. Let’s get everything we can right now.”
(Political Commentator 1, 11:16)
On U.S. global standing:
“You saw how we looked on the world stage right there, especially relative to Iran.”
(Political Commentator, 25:10)
This episode offers a detailed critique of the Trump administration's botched handling of the Switzerland peace talks with Iran. The Meiselas brothers lay out how Iran smartly exploited American fumbling to gain sanctions relief, expand oil exports, and project regional strength. Key U.S. and Israeli actors attempted—but failed—to derail progress, while Trump's last-ditch effort to recruit Syria into a new conflict was publicly and diplomatically rebuffed. Meanwhile, regional powers rallied in parallel diplomatic tracks to sustain the process, signaling a shift toward peace and local agency. Iran emerged with concrete wins while the U.S.—and MAGA-aligned delegation—looked flat-footed and unprepared. The brothers close with a call for a more principled, clear-eyed, and peace-driven U.S. strategy, questioning whether the U.S. plan is anything more than “Donald Trump doing psycho posts every day.”