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Nearly two months after the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, are the two sides any closer to a lasting peace deal?

We speak with Robert Malley, the Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group, who worked in multiple Democratic administrations and helped negotiate the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal with Iran. He says Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of that deal in 2018 “was a completely reckless and absurd one,” with the Trump administration renegotiating many of the same issues, as well as pushing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran did not previously control. “We should never have been in the position we’re in now.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Tensions are rising in Iran and the Persian Gulf after Iran and the U.S. traded military strikes early on Thursday, just hours after President Trump said he was getting closer to sealing a deal with Iran. Following the U.S. strikes in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they targeted an unspecified U.S. air base that was the source of the American strikes. Kuwait’s military says it has activated its air defenses in response to a drone and missile attack, and the U.S. military is accusing Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking Kuwait.

This Tehran Music School Took Ages to Build Up. Airstrikes Turned It to Rubble.

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House Wednesday, President Trump warned the Gulf state of Oman, a longtime U.S. ally, that it would face a bombing campaign if it entered into an agreement with Iran to share control over the Strait of Hormuz. This is an exchange with ABC News reporter Rachel Scott.

RACHEL SCOTT: Would you accept a short-term deal that allows Iran and Oman to control the strait? And would they have to open it immediately, or would you be open to that happening over a period of time? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, the strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s — RACHEL SCOTT: And who would control it? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody is going to control it. It’s international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.

RACHEL SCOTT: Would you accept a short-term deal that allows Iran and Oman to control the strait? And would they have to open it immediately, or would you be open to that happening over a period of time?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, the strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s —

RACHEL SCOTT: And who would control it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it. But nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody is going to control it. It’s international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.

AMY GOODMAN: “Have to blow them up,” President Trump said about Oman, U.S. ally. President Trump also said he felt no pressure from the looming midterm elections to make a deal. He also suggested signing a deal with Iran might be contingent on more Arab and Muslim countries signing the Abraham Accords.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And we’d like to have the countries we were talking about — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and the others — we’d like to have them immediately join the — and Steve Witkoff is working on that with Jared and some others, but we’d like to have them join the Abraham Accords. It will be historic if they do it. And we would — I think they — I think they owe that to us, to be honest. … I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And we’d like to have the countries we were talking about — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and the others — we’d like to have them immediately join the — and Steve Witkoff is working on that with Jared and some others, but we’d like to have them join the Abraham Accords. It will be historic if they do it. And we would — I think they — I think they owe that to us, to be honest. … I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign.

AMY GOODMAN: For more on all of this, we’re joined by Robert Malley, the Middle........

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