Trump urged to reverse Iran's long record of negotiating gains

A hardline media figure said senior clerics supported fatwas authorizing retaliation against individuals responsible for threats against Iran’s leader, but the government did not take it seriously or treat it as official policy.

Mohsen Maghsoudi said in a TV segment on Tuesday that the overwhelming majority of members of the Assembly of Experts — about 70 members — signed a fatwa calling for retributive justice against those he described as the perpetrators of the assassination of the “martyred leader.”

“When our officials were asked about such rulings, the president described them as a ‘personal opinion’ and not state policy.”

The comments were followed by hardline cleric Mohsen Ghanbarian, who said that, thanks to state TV, viewers saw a segment saying Trump would be in Turkey for a NATO summit, and he called on supporters in Turkey and Iran to follow orders for retaliatory punishment.

US Vice President JD Vance said the United States would remain in a strong position regardless of how negotiations with Iran unfold, in a Fox interview aired on Tuesday.

“I actually think that the United States is in a great position however the negotiation ultimately shakes out. If the negotiation is successful, which obviously we want it to be successful, you have an Iran that is permanently transformed,” he said.

Vance added that even if the negotiations fail, saying “the Iranians don’t behave,” Iran’s nuclear programme would be “still destroyed” and its conventional military “still destroyed,” while the United States would remain in a stronger position relative to Iran.

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said IRGC-linked individuals sought entry into the United States with Iran’s World Cup delegation, Politico reported on Tuesday.

Mullin said Iranian officials attempted to bring into the country multiple individuals with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including personnel who had not previously travelled with the national team.

"Two individuals presented as media members had connections to IRGC intelligence, and another applicant was the subject of an international arrest warrant," he said.

Mullin added no World Cup delegation required more attention from US officials than Iran, and defended strict travel restrictions imposed on the Iranian team, including limited entry windows and immediate departure after matches.

"Iran posed the most significant security challenge of any participating delegation," Mullin said. "US officials spent more time dealing with Iran than any other team.'

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and head of its negotiating team said in an interview with state TV aired on Tuesday that $12 billion of Iranian assets will be placed at the disposal of the central bank under a memorandum of understanding, allowing the funds to be used in any currency and for any type of purchase.

In response to US President Donald Trump that part of Iran’s released assets would only be spent on buying grain from American farmers, said the statement was “not true.”

"Islamic Republic holds $24 billion in assets in various locations. Under a memorandum of understanding, $12 billion of that amount would be placed at the disposal of the central bank, allowing it to be used in any currency and for the purchase of any goods," Ghalibaf said. "The critics do not want to accept that the agreement has lifted restrictions imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and ended the blockade.”

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Tuesday praised Ellie Cohanim after she was appointed as a senior policy adviser at the US mission to the United Nations. Cohanim, an Iranian-American diplomat, was named to the role at USUN, according to the announcement.

"Few know the Iranian regime like Ellie. Born in Tehran, raised in Queens-just like President Trump-she’s a fighter. For America. Against antisemitism. For our freedom. Glad to have her in the fight," Waltz posted on X.