Jesse Watters: Israel needs to calm down
Jesse Watters discusses Trump’s brokered deal with Iran, highlighting immediate successes such as lowering oil prices and opening trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is crippled financially and militarily and risks further sanctions if it does not comply.
NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
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 attempt to reach a more comprehensive agreement.
The agreement also includes provisions to restore commercial navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and provides for exemptions from sanctions linked to the continuation of 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.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Iranian fans pose with a pre-revolutionary Iranian flag accompanied by an Israeli flag during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G match between Iran and New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium on June 15, 2026. (Sébastien Frej/Getty Images)
But the current Iranian regime will remain in power for the time being.
Former Iranian youth wrestling champion Sardar Pashei, who won the 1998 Asian Youth Wrestling Championship for Iran, expressed disappointment over 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 for survival in its history. The regime gained financial lifelines and political room to maneuver while millions of Iranians fell deeper into poverty, unemployment and uncertainty,” Pashei told PK Press Club Digital.
“This agreement gives the regime room to rebuild its apparatus of repression: new centers of arrest, torture and intimidation. When a deal offers nothing to the Iranian people, why would the regime hesitate to step up its repression?
“Some claim that a regime change has already taken place in Iran. What change? Has power been transferred to the people? Have the executions ended? Have women been freed from the shackles of the regime? Until then, not because commanders have been killed or ships sunk, we cannot talk about a new Iran. And what has this deal brought to the Iranian people?
CRITICISM OF IRANIAN REGIME WARNS Trump DEAL COULD BE A “LIFE BUOY” FOR THE REGIME, CLAIMING PEOPLE ARE “NERVOUS”
“Despair, abandonment, and the feeling of being left alone in the face of a regime that knows no moral bounds. A regime not weakened, but emboldened, that can now use billions to build more prisons, erect more gallows, and silence more voices.”
Meanwhile, Israelis have been among the deal’s harshest critics, warning that the agreement does not do enough to safeguard Israel’s security.
Team Israel skeleton and bobsleigh Olympian AJ Edelman, who was born in the United States but represented Israel at the 2026 and 2022 Winter Olympics, called the deal a “disgrace.”
“We have emboldened the regime,” Edelman told PK Press Club Digital.
“If the Democrats were to own Obama’s ‘red line,’ the Republicans and Trump must recognize that ‘help is on the way.'” The last solution was arguably much worse, because we committed and almost won. It was the cost of gas and summer air conditioning bills that stranded the Iranian people.
“How did you lose the war in Iran? Literally, a Tomahawk missile on Kharg Island would have brought down the regime. Trump has been talking tough for 40 years! Gas prices were up, the summer was about to get brutal. Midterms. America. It’s hard to believe.
“It was an act of extraordinary political courage to get involved. It is a shame and a stain on America First’s image of exceptionalism to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory because of gas prices.”
PK Press Club Digital has contacted the White House for comment.
President Donald Trump described the arrangement as a way to avoid a broader conflict while pursuing what he called a “grand settlement” with Tehran.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
He also argued that the deal could help stabilize energy markets by reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route, while creating an opportunity to negotiate additional restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.
The president added that he had agreed to a settlement to avoid an “economic catastrophe.”
“I didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe. If you had continued like this, it could have happened,” he said. journalists at the G7 summit In France.
Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance has abandoned plans to travel to Switzerland on Friday for the next round of US-Iranian negotiations, the White House confirmed Thursday evening, underscoring continued uncertainty over the timing and logistics of negotiations with Tehran.
“As the Vice President stated during his press conference, plans for the next technical negotiations have not been finalized and the U.S. delegation is prepared to depart at the first available opportunity,” the spokesperson said.
“But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. For 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 starting technical discussions as soon as possible.”
The remarks follow the signing of a recently signed memorandum of understanding, with negotiators initially planning to finalize a deal between the United States and Iran within 60 days.
