Morgan Ortagus Warns Iran May Stall Trump News Iran Talks
Morgan Ortagus warned Wednesday that Iran may be using ongoing nuclear negotiations to buy time as Donald Trump pauses planned military strikes and extends a fragile ceasefire. The former Trump envoy said the administration should not let Tehran stretch out talks while it keeps leverage over Iran’s nuclear program and regional proxy network.
Morgan Ortagus on Trump News Iran
Ortagus, a former Trump administration official who later worked on Middle East negotiations, said Iran has long used drawn-out talks as a delay tactic. Speaking to Digital after the Middle East Forum in Washington, she said, "It’s the tactic of the regime to stall, to draw negotiations, to buy time."
She also said, "I would encourage the president not to fall into the trap that the Iranians like to do … which is to drag things out to buy time." Those remarks put the dispute over pace and pressure at the center of trump news iran, where the question is not just whether talks continue, but whether they change Iran’s behavior.
Trump Pauses Strikes, Extends Talks
Trump recently paused planned strikes and extended diplomatic talks with Iran after pressure from Gulf allies seeking more time for negotiations. The pause gives diplomacy room to continue while the administration keeps pressing Iran over its nuclear program and regional proxy network.
Ortagus said, "I’m always hopeful in President Trump’s ability to give his negotiating team leverage." She added, "I think this negotiating team has more leverage in their negotiations with Iran than any negotiating teams that preceded them."
Iran's Long Negotiating Pattern
Ortagus tied her warning to Iran’s past conduct, saying the country has historically used negotiations to stall while preserving leverage. She also argued that the president has already changed the pressure environment, saying, "The president has seriously degraded them in a way that no one has since the Islamic Republic’s founding."
That argument sits alongside a hard policy split that remains in place: Trump withdrew from the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018, calling it a disastrous agreement that failed to permanently curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iranian officials have rejected demands for zero enrichment and say Tehran has a sovereign right to maintain a civilian nuclear program under international law.
Ortagus’s warning leaves the diplomacy in a narrow lane. Trump has paused strikes and extended talks, while Iran continues to reject zero enrichment; the next pressure point is whether the negotiations produce movement or simply extend the same standoff one more round.
