Doubts over Kushner and Witkoff’s diplomatic experience
Asked about Kushner and Witkoff’s future roles in the Iran discussion, a White House official told TIME that Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner “have been working together on these discussions and will continue to do so.”
If talks resume, veteran diplomats say the U.S. delegation must recognize the importance of “doing their homework” and setting clearly defined goals.
David Satterfield, a former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and a career diplomat for four decades, warned that if the administration cannot clearly articulate a set of strategic goals—both internally and publicly—the chance of reaching a deal with Iran will diminish.
“Not only does the U.S. need to make clear what its goals were, and to know internally where it was prepared to concede, and where it was not prepared to concede, where the line would be held, the red lines, but to have a realistic sense of what the other side was bringing with it,” Satterfield said.