Cormac McGarry

And so they put the United States to show some sign of goodwill because their bottom line is that we don't trust the U.S.

And every time we came to the negotiating table, we got attacked.

So I think this is a great opportunity for the U.S.

President Donald Trump to show some goodwill.

and tell the Iranians that he's serious.

And I think if he shows just an inch of leniency, the Iranians will most certainly come to the negotiating table because they cannot afford to continue this war.

In fact, neither side can afford to continue this war.

Definitely.

I mean, some of the people that are making up the leadership right now are precisely those who did not want to engage back in 2015 with the US when it came to the JCPOA and the nuclear deal that conveniently Donald Trump tore apart in 2018.

And so that's the challenge.

Anytime you attack any country...

you are at the risk of emboldening the most hardline factions of that country and society.

And that's precisely what has happened.

Now, the Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad Barak Balibov, who headed the delegation,

He himself is an IRGC official, along with him as part of the delegation.

We had multiple IRGC Revolutionary Guard officials.

So there is a sense that he's trying to convince the hardliners in Iran as to why they should engage with the U.S.

Also, his conversation with the domestic audience Sunday morning was quite telling.

You know, we are fighting against an extremely powerful military.

We've put up a good fight, but we cannot continue like this.