What They’re Saying About the U.S.–Iran Talks—June 30, 2026

U.S.

Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz | X

“Approximately 115 vessels carrying 2,500 seafarers have exited the Strait of Hormuz since the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) initiated its evacuation effort in the Gulf. My thanks to IMO Secretary General Dominguez for his briefing last week.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum | Press Interview

“[W]hen we take a look at the length of conflicts in history, [the Iran War] has been so short compared to others. And President Trump, as he demonstrated just even a few weeks ago, if they’re not willing to negotiate, he can go back to a different approach. Because, again the key here, having a terror group having a nuclear weapon—it’s not really like a country, it’s a terrorist group. But the terrorist group would use that, and it would be the first time in world history where a terrorist group willing to use a nuclear weapon would have one. President Trump has basically averted World War Three and got oil prices back down to where we were pre-conflict.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer | Quoted in News Article

“If this [Secretary of State Rubio’s and Special Envoy Witkoff’s closed-door briefing on Iran to senators] is the administration’s defense behind closed doors, Secretary Rubio should make it under oath, in public, before the Foreign Relations Committee. . . . [The briefing was] delayed, deficient, and devoid of details.”

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins | Comments to Press

“I’ve been very concerned that the memorandum of understanding says that Iran would receive $300 billion and it’s not clear who or what country that money would come from. If it can be used to rebuild the ballistic missiles, or to enrich more uranium, or restore Iran’s navy, then the progress that has been made through this conflict would be done away with.”

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith | Press Interview

“The biggest thing to take away from this is Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz is now baked in. The threat of it will always be there, and Iran will leverage that—whether a ceasefire or no ceasefire, six months from now, or a year from now, two years from now. They know it is a choke point, they know it is something they can turn on and off whenever they want. So this is always going to be a challenge. And under the circumstances, they are apparently incapable of a complete ceasefire at this point. They just got to negotiate with Iran. And you made the point very well: prior to this war the Strait of Hormuz wasn’t on the table. Now Iran has a major leverage point against us which they are going to use to the tune of billions, probably tens of billions of dollars, which will only make them more powerful. Which really points up the stupidity of having started this war in the first place. And all of this, very predictable. You can see this coming, and Donald Trump walked right into this trap. Now he’s doing his best, I guess, to try to mitigate the damages of that. But it is a huge negative, and there’s nothing that can be done about that at this point.”

Sen. Tim Kaine | X

“The Trump-Vance Administration’s foolish and disastrous war with Iran has been a nightmare for Americans’ wallets—costing the average household about $1,000 over the last four months.”

IRAN

President Masoud Pezeshkian | X

“Mutual understanding is a two-way street. If the American side adheres to the agreement, we will also fulfill our commitments. Our approach to unreasonable saber-rattling and baseless threats is to rely on rationality and human dignity in decision-making, and to defend decisively and fearlessly when it comes time to act.”

President Masoud Pezeshkian | Comments to Press

“Despite existing security restrictions and considerations, the final text of the agreement was evaluated by the relevant authorities after expert and security reviews, and also received the strong support of members of the Supreme National Security Council. . . . [G]roups aligned with the psychological operations of hostile media . . . are trying, by attacking the negotiating team and questioning national decisions, to create the conditions for weakening this achievement.”

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei | Comments to Press

“We will not have any negotiations at any level with the American side in the coming days, and the fact that American representatives are traveling to Qatar has nothing to do with the Iranian delegation’s trip.”

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei | Press Conference

“We must evaluate the current process in the coming days and decide based on that how and when to begin negotiations for a final agreement.”

ISRAEL

Foreign Ministry | X

“Another underground Hezbollah military fortress has been dismantled. Built on behalf of the Iranian regime, it was packed with tons of weapons and missile launch shafts aimed at Israel. Every dismantled terror complex weakens Iran’s grip on Lebanon.”

Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter | X

“While we are making strides here in DC toward a peaceful future between Lebanon and Israel, our troops are acting on the ground to ensure that the security of our people isn't compromised. The terror tunnel dismantled yesterday in Majdal Zoun ran over 650 feet long, and over 82 feet underground - Hezbollah constructed it with 4 launch shafts to deploy against Israeli civilians. Our actions on the battlefield and in the negotiating room send one message - Hezbollah has no place in Lebanon.”

GULF STATES

Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari | Comments to Press

“To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties [the U.S. and Iran] in the coming days.”