Iran Envoy: US Can Be 'Friends' If Trump Sidelined Israel
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- Abolfazl Pasandjdeh, Iran's ambassador to Mexico, told Politico at a World Cup fan expo in Mexico City on Friday that 'if the U.S. closes its eyes to Israel's interest, Iran and the U.S. can be very good friends,' urging Trump to prioritize US interests
- Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon has risked upending US-Iran peace negotiations 'several times,' with Netanyahu pursuing a different end goal than Trump
- Former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro identified a key divergence: Israel wants to eliminate Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile threat, while the US is focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz
- Trump declared that Israel will have 'no choice' but to accept the final deal, telling the Financial Times: 'I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots,' referring to Netanyahu
- The US refused visas to more than a dozen members of Iran's World Cup support staff, forcing Iran to move its training camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico
Why it matters: Tehran's public offer of conditional friendship — explicitly tied to Washington distancing from Israel — reveals a strategy to drive a wedge between the two allies as a deal could be finalized this weekend. Netanyahu's strikes in Lebanon and his focus on Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities clash with Trump's narrower objective of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a divergence that could fracture the deal from within even if the US and Iran sign on.
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