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Iran, US see negotiations ‘on the battlefield’: Envoy

Greenwatch Desk World News 2026-09-08, 5:57am

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The standoff between Washington and Tehran is unlikely to produce genuine diplomacy as long as both sides believe they have more to gain from pressure than from talks, according to Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.


“I think what we’re seeing is a negotiation occurring but on the battlefield – a different form of negotiation. In order for true negotiations to take place, I think both parties need to believe they have more to gain at the negotiating table than on the battlefield,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Iran has been trying to adhere to the conditions of the MoU. That MoU was Iranian leverage. And the Americans have been trying to shear away, or pull away,” Harrison said.

He said Washington is currently favouring economic over military pressure, while Tehran is pushing back against being sidelined. “What the Iranians are saying is, ‘No, we get a vote in terms of how this conflict is going to play out.’ And they may try to escalate in order to break out of the trap they believe Donald Trump is in.”

“Unless conditions on the ground change over the next day or so, I don’t see an authentic negotiating track,” he said.