UN Ambassador Mike Waltz: White House Taking Pragmatic Approach to Iran Talks

by | Jun 21, 2026

UN Ambassador Mike Waltz: White House Taking Pragmatic Approach to Iran Talks

by | Jun 21, 2026

mike waltz with marco rubio and pete hegseth

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz says that the White House is taking a “pragmatic approach” to Iran, but the President remains laser-focused on the nuclear issue. 

“None of these senior members of this genocidal regime are good guys by any means,” Waltz Sunday said on Face the Nation. “They certainly wouldn’t pass an FBI background check. No one expects that. But, at the end of the day, the administration, our administration, is taking a pragmatic approach.”

He added that the President remains “laser focused” on the nuclear issue. 

Waltz is the former National Security Adviser, but was demoted to UN Ambassador after a Signal chat leak embarrassed the White House. He gave the interview as US diplomats traveled to Switzerland to meet with Iranian negotiators. 

The UN Ambassador confirmed that technical nuclear experts from the Department of Energy are part of the American delegation. This is a change from previous talks between the US and Iran, where the American side was represented by just Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff. 

Multiple sources have reported that Witkoff and Kushner lacked the nuclear knowledge to understand the proposal Iran offered in February. The result of Witkoff and Kushner’s error could lead to the US getting a worse deal with Iran.

Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.

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