Analyst: Iran-US Talks Unlikely to Advance Beyond Memorandum of Understanding
Drop Site News co-founder Jeremy Scahill says the chances of a comprehensive agreement between Iran and the United States are 'very, very slim,' warning that Israeli actions in Lebanon and the US failure to enforce a previous ceasefire could derail diplomacy.
Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Drop Site News, has expressed deep skepticism about the prospects for substantial progress in negotiations between Iran and the United States. In an interview on Al Jazeera's "The Bottom Line," Scahill argued that the talks are unlikely to move beyond a preliminary memorandum of understanding to a full-fledged comprehensive agreement aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
Scahill highlighted that the White House has not been able to force Israel to comply with the minimal agreements of the Gaza ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October 2025. This failure, he suggested, makes Iranian leaders skeptical about the credibility of any US commitments in the Iran talks. "If the White House hasn't been able to force Israel to abide by the minimal set of agreements" in Gaza, he said, then Iranian negotiators have little reason to believe that the US can deliver on its promises regarding Iran.
According to Scahill, Israeli military actions in Lebanon further complicate the situation and could lead to a complete breakdown of the already fragile Iran-US diplomacy. He concluded that chances for the talks to produce more than a memorandum of understanding are "very, very slim."
