US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said on Fox News that President Trump is fully determined to close the emerging deal with Iran and advance it. Waltz also noted that Hezbollah attacked Israel and does not like the concessions Iran is making in the talks, according to the interview.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz stated that President Trump is determined to close the emerging deal with Iran and advance it. Waltz additionally noted that Hezbollah has attacked Israel and does not like the concessions Iran is making in the talks, according to the interview. His remarks come at 16:45 Jerusalem, simultaneously with Iranian official announcements that negotiations with the US are halted 'for now,' a sequence that began with a tweet from deputy foreign minister Mohammad Marandi and escalated to a formal state announcement within minutes—a rapid hardening of Tehran's line that contrasts sharply with Waltz's assertion of American resolve to seal the deal.
The thread shows how the diplomatic picture deteriorated across a series of publicly contradictory statements throughout the afternoon. At 16:45 Jerusalem, the first thread item recorded a member of the Iranian delegation in Islamabad saying there would be no more negotiations for now, an unverified single-source claim. Within minutes, multiple Iranian channels and Israeli monitoring accounts confirmed that Iran had formally suspended talks with the US (16:45 Jerusalem, version 2), and Iranian officials subsequently announced the conclusion of the nuclear negotiations without releasing any terms (version 3, 16:45 Jerusalem). Successive versions (4–7, all timed 16:45 Jerusalem) show Deputy Foreign Minister Marandi tweeting the halt, senior advisor Marandi confirming it, Iran's state-linked sources officially suspending negotiations, and a final bulletin reporting Iran saying 'no more talks for now' while Waltz simultaneously told Fox News that Trump is determined to sign the deal today. The corroboration chain moved from a single unverified source to multiple official Iranian channels and Israeli monitoring services within the same clock minute.
As The Zioneer reported earlier on Friday (16:17 Jerusalem), a diplomat told Fox News that the Israeli strike in Beirut's Dahieh neighborhood was a clear attempt to sabotage Trump's emerging deal with Tehran. The background thread also includes prior Zioneer reporting that has tracked a widening gap between US and Israeli priorities on Iran: Vice President Vance stated on June 9 that Washington prioritizes a nuclear deal over Israeli preferences, and a June 10 bulletin quoted a senior American official saying Trump is losing patience and may escalate 'violent assaults on Iran's infrastructure.' Ambassador Danon assessed on June 11 that the US may need to apply more force against Iran. Waltz's latest comments appear to lean back toward the diplomatic track, even as Iran's own public position has moved in the opposite direction.
What remains unresolved is the factual status of the negotiations themselves. Iran's statements across the thread—multiple, official, and coordinated—say talks are halted or concluded, while the US envoy asserts the president is determined to close the deal. The thread contains no independent verification of whether actual negotiating sessions have ceased or whether the Iranian announcements are posturing. The Hezbollah angle introduced by Waltz also remains a claim attributed to the ambassador, without on-record confirmation from the group or an independent source. The contradiction between a stated US determination to sign and Iran's declared halt to talks is the central open question.
7 developments
- DevelopingUS envoy Waltz says Trump fully intends to close Iran deal, notes Hezbollah's attacks and dislike of Iranian concessions
- StrongTrump tells Netanyahu he is determined to sign Iran agreement as deal talks accelerate
- StrongTrump: I think Iranians want a deal — but we will see
- DevelopingTrump, angered, says Iran is 'stalling' nuclear deal, threatens immediate attack
Source and signal
- Internal intake