Jesse Watters: Israel needs to relax
Jesse Watters discusses Trump’s negotiated Iran deal, highlighting immediate successes like lower oil prices and open trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is crippled economically and militarily and faces renewed sanctions if it does not comply.
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As Americans remain divided over the memorandum of understanding to end the war in Iran, star athletes representing two of the countries most affected by the deal have shared their thoughts.
The memorandum establishes a 60-day negotiation period during which the United States and Iran will try to reach a more comprehensive agreement.
The agreement also contains provisions aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and provides limited exemptions from sanctions linked to continued negotiations. Several of the most contentious issues, including the long-term future of Iran’s nuclear program, are expected to be addressed in subsequent negotiations.
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Fans of Iran pose with a pre-revolutionary Iranian flag alongside an Israel flag during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Iran and New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium on June 15, 2026. (Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)
But the current regime in Iran remains in power for now.
Former Iranian youth wrestling champion Sardar Pashei, who won the 1998 Asian Youth Wrestling Championship for Iran, expressed disappointment at the survival of the current regime.
“Many thought that under President Trump, the Islamic Republic would become history. Instead, it was given one of the greatest opportunities in its history to survive. The regime was given economic lifelines and political breathing room, while millions of Iranians sank deeper into poverty, unemployment and insecurity,” Pashei told Pakinomist Digital.
“This deal gives the regime room to rebuild its machinery of repression – new centers of arrest, torture and intimidation. When a deal offers nothing to the Iranian people, why would the regime hesitate to intensify its repression?
“Some argue that there has already been a regime change in Iran. What change? Has power been transferred to the people? Have the executions stopped? Have women been freed from the shackles of the regime? Until then – not because commanders were killed or ships sunk – we cannot talk about a new Iran. And what did this deal bring to the Iranian people?
CRITIC OF IRANIAN REGIME WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE ‘LIFELINE’ FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE ‘NERVOUS’
“Despair, abandonment and the feeling of standing alone with a regime that knows no moral boundaries. A regime that is not weakened but courageous – a regime that can now spend billions building more prisons, erecting more gallows and silencing more voices.”
Meanwhile, Israelis have been among the harshest critics of the deal, warning that the agreement does not do enough to protect Israel’s security.
Team Israel skeleton and bobsleigh Olympian AJ Edelman, who is American-born but represented Israel at the 2026 and 2022 Winter Olympics, called the deal “a disgrace.”
“We encouraged the regime,” Edelman told Pakinomist Digital.
“If the Democrats needed to own Obama’s ‘red line,’ the Republicans and Trump must own ‘help is on the way.’ The latter was arguably far worse because we actually got engaged and almost won. It was the cost of gas and summer AC bills that stranded the Iranian people.
“How did you lose the Iran war? Literally a Tomahawk missile at Kharg Island would have brought down the regime. Trump has been talking tough about it for 40 years! Gas prices were up, the summer was going to be brutal. Midterms. America. It’s hard to believe.
“It was an act of extraordinary political courage to engage. It is a shame and a stain on the image of America First exceptionalism to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory because of gas prices.”
Pakinomist Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
President Donald Trump has described the arrangement as a means of avoiding a wider conflict as he pursues what he called a “good solution” with Tehran.
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He has also argued that the deal could help stabilize energy markets by reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route, while creating an opportunity to negotiate further restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.
The president added that he agreed to a settlement to avoid “economic disaster.”
“I didn’t want to see financial disaster. If you kept this going, it could have happened,” he shared journalists at the G7 summit in France.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance canceled plans to travel to Switzerland on Friday for the next round of U.S.-Iran talks, the White House confirmed Thursday night, highlighting ongoing uncertainty about the timing and logistics of talks with Tehran.
“As the vice president stated in his press conference, plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized and the US delegation has been prepared to leave at the first available opportunity,” the spokesman said.
“But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. Right now, the vice president is not leaving tonight,” they added.
“We will let you know as soon as we have a concrete update on the next steps. We look forward to beginning technical conversations as soon as possible.”
The remarks came in the wake of a recently signed memorandum of understanding in which negotiators initially planned to finalize a US-Iran deal within 60 days.
