Barak Ravid: For Iranians, 60 Days Is Only to Agree on Whether They Will Have Tea or Coffee, Part of Their Tactics to Play for Time

EXCERPT:

RAVID: “So, first, I totally agree with David. For the Iranians, 60 days, it‘s only to agree on whether they‘re going to have tea or coffee. That, you know, that‘s part of their negotiation tactics to delay and play for time. And I don‘t think it‘s going to be any different this time. Even though some U.S. officials claim that they already have some gentlemen‘s agreement with the Iranians. Well, the Iranians, there are no gentleman agreements with the Iranians. But I think we still need to see that we pass this hurdle of the situation in Lebanon. I heard from a source in one of the mediating countries that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told the mediators that the issue of Lebanon is make-or-break for the Iranians. And until they don‘t see that they indeed get what they want in Lebanon, they‘re just not going to send their delegation to Switzerland. And I think that, for the Iranians, when they say ceasefire, they just mean that Israel is not taking any military action in Lebanon. And for the Israelis, when they say ceasefire, they mean that they‘re not taking any military action outside of the buffer zone that they are occupying in Lebanon. This is not the same thing. And this is why I think we still have a way to go until this stabilizes.”