Waltz: ‘Door open’ to Iran talks, more countries eye Abraham Accords

NEW YORK — US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that the “door is open” for Iran to return to the negotiating table and suggested that the Trump administration believes time is on its side in the conflict.

Speaking at an Al-Monitor Live event in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Waltz defended the administration’s handling of the war with Iran and touted the Abraham Accords, which marked their sixth anniversary last week. 

The US-brokered agreements establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain were signed at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.

Iran

“I do believe that to be the case,” Waltz said when asked by Al-Monitor senior adviser Andrew Parasiliti whether the United States believes time is on its side in the conflict, which started on Feb. 28. 

Waltz added that the “door is open for Iran to come back to the negotiating table,” though he dismissed as “fantastical” reports that Tehran has recently demanded the lifting of US sanctions and reparations as conditions for renewed talks.

Iran has effectively blockaded the strait since the start of the war and made its reopening conditional on the removal of US sanctions, compensation for war damage and other demands rejected by the Trump administration. In addition to attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping this month, the Houthis seized islands near Bab el Mandeb, giving Iran and its allies leverage over two global choke points. 

“The Iranian regime is at its weakest point since 1979, and it’s getting weaker,” Waltz said, citing the collapse of Iran’s currency and other economic pressures. “They’re going to come back [to talks], I hope peacefully and diplomatically.”

Iran’s rial fell to a record low of more than 2.25 million to the US dollar on the informal market earlier this month amid mounting economic pressure from the war, US sanctions and restrictions on Iranian oil exports.

Gaza

Waltz touted the Trump administration’s approach to Gaza as a “new type of multilateralism,” focused on specific challenges and bringing together countries with a direct interest in resolving them.

At the center of that approach is President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which oversees implementation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, including the Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with administering the enclave, reconstruction efforts and an International Stabilization Force. In July, the board announced a roadmap aimed at resolving one of the plan’s most difficult outstanding issues: the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups alongside a phased Israeli withdrawal.

Implementation, however, has stalled over the sequencing of those steps, and Waltz said he expects discussions with Israel “to move forward after the elections are settled,” referring to Israel’s Oct. 27 parliamentary election. 

Regional dynamics

Waltz said there are “prospective members” interested in joining the Abraham Accords, though he did not identify them. He also praised Israel and Morocco for agreeing earlier this month to exchange ambassadors, upgrading ties that had remained at the liaison-office level since Morocco normalized relations with Israel in 2020.