US-Iran Peace Talks: Malley and Toossi Tell Trump That Indicting Yourself Yields No Results

The chief negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, under former President Barack Obama, Robert Malley, has described the US‑Iran peace agreement set to be signed on Friday as “an important and welcome achievement” because it is expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced an end to hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz following the establishment of a peace agreement with Iran.

He also ordered the immediate removal of the US military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

Malley noted that the agreement does not address the fundamental issues that initially caused the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Yet, the MOU serves as a clear and damning indictment of the preceding war, primarily because its principal achievement is the reopening of a waterway that was closed solely due to that conflict,” he said in a post on X.

“Regarding the matters that will need to be addressed post‑MOU – including the future of Iran’s nuclear program, the handling of its enriched uranium, and the extent of sanctions relief – these will likely be postponed and will probably be more challenging to resolve than they were before the war,” he added.

Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the progressive Center for International Policy think tank, echoed this assessment.

He commented on X, “Let there be no doubt: had you informed the war’s most vocal supporters in February that this would be the outcome, they would have been appalled.”

“No regime change. No Iranian submission to their numerous maximalist demands. This represents their worst‑case scenario.”

While falling oil prices offered a brief glimmer of hope for Trump, whose approval ratings have dropped to an unprecedented low due to the economic repercussions of the war, it remains unclear whether public perception of the conflict will shift.

The 60‑day deadline on several critical issues is set to expire in August, as the US approaches the final campaign phase before the midterm elections in November.

In an interview with The New York Times late on Sunday, Trump said he could restart attacks on Iran if a nuclear agreement is not reached by then.

He also said he could make the US “the guardian of the Middle East” in return for 20 percent of the region’s revenue.