MELISSA FRANCIS (CO-HOST): We've heard all kinds of chatter from out of Iran from threatening to re-start to, I think more interestingly, their foreign minister, [Mohammad Javad] Zarif, saying that it's possible they could keep going in the deal with just the European parties. What does that tell you if they were willing to stay in after the U.S. pulled out?
JIM WALSH (INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT): Well, I think, Melissa, a lot of this has to do with Iranian domestic politics. [Iranian] President Rouhani has been savagely ridiculed for the Iran deal in Iran. His critics are hardliners who say, “weapons not agreements.” And so, they're going after Rouhani. And so if Rouhani is able to stay in the agreement, I think that's what Iran wants to do. But that might be too hard domestically, politically at home. And they may feel out of pride, or political necessity, that they have to strike back. Tit for tat. That's what people are worried about, is that once we break it, they will be free to do whatever they want.
FRANCIS: I'm struck by what you said at the beginning there, that they want to stay in. Doesn't that tell you that it's too good a deal for them, that they're getting something for not very much if they really want to stay in even if the U.S. pulls out? That's what concerns me.
WALSH: Well, Melissa, let me turn that back on you. By that definition, no deal would ever be good if the parties' supported it. That's not how negotiations work. Deals survive when all the parties get benefits. Iran isn't happy with aspects of this deal. The U.S. isn't happy with aspects of the deal. That's why it's a negotiation. That's how you get a successful result.
