U.S. Bombs Iran Despite Peace Talks; Israel Strikes Lebanon to “Force Trump’s Hand”: Negar Mortazavi

May 26, 2026
We get an update on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran from journalist Negar Mortazavi, following the Pentagon’s so-called self-defense strikes on two Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz Monday despite an official ceasefire and ongoing peace negotiations. The “chaotic” ceasefire “has been violated from day one,” says Mortazavi, who notes that Israel’s continuous attacks on southern Lebanon are delaying attempts to end the war — and that this is exactly the intention of the Israeli government. “Clearly, Netanyahu doesn’t want this war with Iran to end,” she says. “Every step of escalation is definitely going to harm the final outcome and narrow the path to a final agreement.” Mortazavi also comments on the new political reality for Iran’s Gulf neighbors in the aftermath of Iranian strikes on U.S. military bases hosted in the region. “The Iranian message is: If war comes to us, it will not stay inside our borders.”

AMY GOODMAN: The U.S. attacked southern Iran Sunday in what the Pentagon called “self-defense” strikes. The U.S. sank two Iranian ships, claiming they were attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it shot down a U.S. Reaper drone that entered Iranian airspace. It comes as Iranian negotiators traveled to Qatar to discuss a potential ceasefire deal to end the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. This is Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson speaking Monday.
 
ESMAIL BAGHAEI: [translated] It is true that we have reached a conclusion regarding a large part of the topics under discussion, but to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent, no one can make such a claim, for the same reasons you mentioned yourself, because policymaking and decision-making in America have become caught in a kind of institutionalized instability.
 
AMY GOODMAN: This comes as President Trump warned Iran to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, posting on social media Monday night, quote, “The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission,” unquote.
Over the weekend, President Trump also urged countries in the region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan — to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, as part of U.S. negotiations to reach a deal with Iran.
On Friday, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced she’s resigning. In a statement, Gabbard said she’s stepping down after her husband was diagnosed with bone cancer.
We’re joined now by Negar Mortazavi, Iranian American journalist, host of The Iran Podcast, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.
Negar, thanks so much for being with us. Can you talk about these latest developments? Can you talk about the U.S. bombing southern Iran, and yet they’re both saying, Iran and the United States, that they’re in the middle of negotiations? What’s happening?
 
NEGAR MORTAZAVI: Good morning, Amy and Juan. Thanks for having me back. It’s great to be with you.
So, yes, I mean, the U.S. and Iran are in the middle of ongoing talks for a peace deal, which seems to be as close as it ever was throughout this war. I mean, I’m hearing from sources on both sides that they’re very close to the finish line, in fact, as far as trying to be flexible and making concessions on both sides.
And there is also a ceasefire, an ongoing ceasefire. It’s been ongoing for weeks. It has been murky. It has been chaotic. It has been violated from day one. Israel violated the ceasefire, attacking Lebanon. And there have been other sort of back-and-forths. And now Iran is accusing the U.S. of violating the ceasefire again.
I mean, we have to remember Iran — when we talk about the Strait of Hormuz, this is right off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. And the U.S. has a blockade on top of that strait, very close to the Iranian coast, trying to block Iranian ports, trying to block Iranian ships. So, the U.S. presence there, from the viewpoint of the Iranians, in itself is hostile, is seen as part of sort of this act of war.
And the conflict, the Iranians are definitely seeing it as a violation of sort of that ceasefire and war escalation from the U.S. side. I don’t think it will necessarily unravel that peace process or completely destroy the ceasefire, but, you know, every step of escalation is definitely going to harm the final outcome and narrow the path to a final agreement.
 
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Negar, what do — from what you can tell, what do government leaders in Iran make of this alternating, as they say, institutionalized instability on the U.S. part, with Trump making constant bombastic threats, at the same time then alternating to say that an agreement is imminent?
 
NEGAR MORTAZAVI: Well, first of all, confusion, Juan, and then also a lack of trust. I mean, this is a recurring line I keep hearing from sources in Tehran over and over and over, that they have no trust in this administration.
I mean, take a step back. Iran started nuclear negotiations with this very administration a year ago, and then in the middle of those talks came the first war, in June of last year. Again, they engaged in nuclear negotiations this year. In the middle of negotiations, as they offered what seemed like a good deal by the admission of the mediators, Oman mediators — in the middle of those negotiations, again came an even bigger war, this time a regime change war.
So, what Tehran is saying is that “we have no trust in this administration,” and that has made the process even more complicated. It’s not just the president’s rhetoric that changes by the day in the middle of this process, but it’s also trusting that if the U.S. commits to something, that they would abide by it, that they won’t come and sign something or agree on something, and then go and change it the day after. So, this will also impact that final sort of agreement, and it’s one of the reasons that Tehran is not only skeptical, but also wants to do this in stages, to make sure they give something, they take something, they give something, they take something, with some form of guarantee. That’s also why they’re looking east to powers like Russia, China. There seems to be something serious happening in China, maybe China stepping in to help the peace process, because there’s just no trust in Tehran for Washington, for this administration.
 
AMY GOODMAN: Negar, if you can talk about — a little further about the connection between Israel bombing southern Lebanon — you know, you had this back-and-forth last week, where President Trump said, when he’s done with the presidency, he could be prime minister of Israel, that Netanyahu does what he wants him to. Clearly, Netanyahu doesn’t want this war with Iran to end, but can’t control what the U.S. does, but can continue to attack southern Lebanon, that exacerbating Iran’s response, because they’re saying what happens in Lebanon also affects whether they reach an agreement with the United States. Can you talk more about that, with this intensification of the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon? Do you think that Netanyahu is doing this to force Trump’s hand on Iran?
 
NEGAR MORTAZAVI: Absolutely, Amy. And it’s not the first time. I mean, Netanyahu has done this before. First of all, look at the big picture. Benjamin Netanyahu has wanted a war, an ongoing war, on Iran by the U.S. for decades. I mean, he has put this war plan in front of various U.S. presidents, from Bush to Obama to Biden, and then, finally, the, quote-unquote, “president of peace” took the plan and did it. And he wants the war to continue to expand. He has only expanded the war since the day after October 7th in Gaza, in Lebanon, now in Iran, even in Syria and other countries. He just wants it expanded.
Now, Iran’s proposal, what they are looking after is a regional end to the war. So the way they call it is a nonaggression pact, meaning Iran and its allies in a pact versus U.S. and its allies, which very much includes Israel. And, I mean, frankly, I think this is better for regional peace and stability if you have sort of everyone on board on one side and the other side. So, Iran is very much trying to fold Hezbollah into this process — this is Lebanon — militias in Iraq that are allied with Iran. This is more than just within Iran’s borders, especially on Hezbollah, because Hezbollah entered this war with Iran. They worked in coordination for the first time as close allies, and Tehran doesn’t want to drop them.
And so, for Benjamin Netanyahu, this has really been a tactic from the first day the ceasefire was announced. Just hours later, he did that massive attack with a massacre of over 350 people in Beirut to try to torpedo the process. And now, I think, I’m expecting to see more and more of this. Like you said, he can’t control what the U.S. does, as far as U.S. trying to make a deal with Iran, and it seems like President Trump is not very much including him in every little step and detail. But he can — he definitely has means, and others also in the region have means, to torpedo the process and try to unravel it.
And from the Iranian perspective, they want Lebanon very much as part of this. And if that’s not included, then this final deal will not stand for them. So, they want a permanent end to the war, not just for themselves, but also for their allies. And they want to commit that this will be a nonaggression pact between them and their allies, and U.S. and its allies, meaning Iran’s allies will also not attack the U.S. or Israel after this pact.
 
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Negar, talking about a regional agreement, what are you seeing in terms of the other Gulf states of Qatar, UAE, [inaudible] and Oman, in terms of whether they’ve gotten closer or further away from their alliance with the United States as a result of all of this, of this war?
 
NEGAR MORTAZAVI: Well, it’s a very dynamic situation. First of all, I want to say the GCC countries, these Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf, are not very similar. I mean, you have a country like Oman, who has kept itself as far away from the war, almost outside the war, as possible and didn’t get a lot of attacks or engagements from Iran. And then you have a country like UAE, who chose from day one to be part of the war and is very much and publicly part of the war and is also getting attacked and is engaged with Iran. And then you have countries sort of in between, like you mentioned, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others. I think Qatar, Oman and Saudi, if I put them sort of in the same basket, have been trying very hard — well, before the war — to push against the war, really warning the administration that this will be catastrophic, this will become regional, and this will not stay inside Iran’s borders. And this also came from Turkey, Egypt, you know, other countries in the region, but all of them together didn’t have the same weight as Benjamin Netanyahu, who pushed and convinced President Trump that Iran is a paper tiger, and they can attack and finish it, which didn’t happen.
But now throughout the course, I mean, it’s very dynamic. These countries are sort of stuck between a powerful ally, which is the United States — they obviously can’t end this alliance — and a powerful neighbor, Iran, who has been there for thousands of years and will continue to be there. So, I think there is a rethinking happening in the GCC, each country in a different way, of how to manage these two relationships. You can’t rely on one side or the other. You can’t pretend like you’re hosting U.S. bases that are being used in a war against your neighbor, and you have no role in this war, and get surprised if you get retaliation from that said neighbor. And so, that dynamic, I think, is something that will play out in the short term and also long term, and for some of these states to rethink how peace in the region would not only be for them, but also has to involve their neighbor. Basically, the Iranian message is: If war comes to us, it will not stay inside our borders, and if it comes back, they will make sure that they’ll do it again and again. That’s the Iranian messaging and the new doctrine.
 
AMY GOODMAN: Negar Mortazavi, we thank you so much for being with us, Iranian American journalist, host of The Iran Podcast, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.