Texas Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday that recent diplomatic contacts between the United States and Iran had “ended in a complete failure,” following subsequent US military strikes on Iran. In an interview with CBS News, he said the Iranian side had conducted the talks from the outset with arrogance and made it demonstrably clear that it had no intention of halting uranium enrichment under any circumstances. According to Cruz, Tehran refused even to discuss a zero-enrichment option.
Cruz noted that Iranian representatives had insisted on the right to enrich uranium in underground bunkers without external oversight. He referred to remarks made by Donald Trump on Friday during their joint trip across Texas, stressing that the US position amounted to a demand for a complete halt to enrichment—yet Iran refused to engage in any dialogue on the issue. Similarly, the senator said, Tehran was unwilling to discuss the activities of its regional allies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
On Saturday morning, February 28, the United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iranian targets after several weeks of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. Shortly afterward, Iran responded with attacks on Israel and countries across the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The military action came just days after Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said the American and Iranian sides had made “substantial progress” in talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. Oman served as a mediator in the latest round of consultations, which took place in Geneva.
Earlier, Cruz said US forces were likely preparing for “limited” strikes on Iran that could be carried out “within days.” At the same time, he argued that the Iranian regime was now in its most vulnerable position in years.