CENTCOM commander at the talks? What is US policy?

What he says

An English translation of the talk, which is in Persian. It was made with AI from YouTube's automatic captions and may contain errors; the Persian transcript is authoritative. Click a timestamp to jump to that part of the video.

0:01 Hello. Today is Friday, 17 Bahman 1404, February 6, 2026. The first round of talks was held in Muscat, the capital of Oman. As for the next meeting, both sides said it will be scheduled after consultations with their capitals. Axios reported that the sessions started out indirect but later became direct. This is one of those points that Mr. Araghchi and Islamic Republic officials insist on, saying, "We are negotiating with America indirectly." But it seems this is just more of the same trickery, and in fact, after

1:00 half an hour or an hour of indirect talks, assuming their claim is even true, the negotiations effectively continued directly. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters both reported that the Islamic Republic rejected America's demand for a complete halt to enrichment, but said it would agree to the creation of a regional consortium for enrichment. Of course, the problem with this agreement and with the Islamic Republic's proposal is this: even if a consortium of regional countries is formed, will enrichment ultimately remain in Iran, or will the enrichment facilities be moved to other

1:55 countries? In any case, missiles, proxies and human rights were not discussed in this round of talks. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that America put a draft agreement on the table, which probably also covers non-nuclear issues. But Iran has insisted that it is focused on the nuclear issue. In any case, these negotiations show that, of the four policy options on his table, Mr. Trump has chosen the first one: for now, no war, and negotiation with the Islamic Republic.

2:54 However, the Americans have repeatedly stressed that the other options remain on the table. In this regard, one of the most controversial points was the presence at the talks of Admiral Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, the command of US forces in the Middle East. Although the Islamic Republic had earlier said this was unnecessary and had even threatened not to negotiate, photos released of the American delegation's meeting with Oman's foreign minister, Mr. Busaidi, show that Mr. Brad Cooper was present at the meetings.

3:47 What does his presence mean, given the heavy deployment of American forces under CENTCOM's command in the region? This brings to mind the famous line of Teddy Roosevelt, the American president at the start of the twentieth century, who said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." This famous line of Roosevelt's, which later became known as the "Big Stick policy," has on many occasions been the guiding principle of American foreign policy in negotiations. In fact, one could say that Mr. Brad Cooper's presence was that very big stick on the American delegation's shoulder as they

4:50 sat down at the negotiating table. But a few hours after the talks ended, Mr. Trump signed and issued as an executive order something he had said on 23 Dey, 24 days earlier. This order, which of course also contains harsh language about the Islamic Republic, about it being the biggest state sponsor of terrorism, its destabilizing regional policies, and so on and so forth, directs that any country that buys from Iran or imports from it will be subject to a 25 percent tariff from the United States.

5:45 This matter concerns China more than anyone else, because China is the biggest buyer of the Islamic Republic's oil, and more than 90 percent of the crude oil, petrochemical products and so on that are subject to US sanctions end up in China, through smuggling and the methods the Islamic Republic uses. They go to Shandong province, where there are more than 100 refineries known as "teapot refineries." These refineries process 100,000 to 150,000 barrels of oil per day, and they are the buyers of the Islamic Republic's oil. They pay for it in Chinese yuan, at banks that likewise

6:46 work only in yuan and have no dealings with the rest of the world, and with that money the Islamic Republic in turn buys goods from China. So China is the Islamic Republic's biggest trading partner, both in buying oil, petrochemicals, gas condensates and so on, and in selling goods. Now, this is not something hidden from America's eyes; they know it. Whether America, with this order of Mr. Trump's, will go ahead and impose an additional 25 percent tariff on China remains to be seen, because China has threatened that it will retaliate in kind against any sanction or tariff America

7:41 places on Chinese goods. Even when America, when Mr. Trump, was talking about tariffs of a hundred-plus percent, China threatened in kind that it would put the same tariff on American goods, something that would hurt America's agricultural and livestock sectors and so on more than anything else. In any case, this executive order of Mr. Trump's should perhaps also be seen as a continuation of the big-stick policy. However, Mr. Trump spoke today and said that Iran is much more willing than last week

8:37 to sign an agreement and reach a deal. He says this to show that the pressure policy he has applied, both in the form of sanctions and militarily, has been successful and that he can ultimately get an agreement. In any case, this first round is over. One could say that the full attention of the countries of the region, at least, is on the talks in Oman. The pressure that the Islamic countries of the region put on Washington so that there would be no war and the matter would end in negotiations is another aspect of this attention, and presumably they are now following it closely

9:32 and are all pushing for things to get somewhere. We too must wait and see where the news that gradually comes out over the next two or three days, the news that gets raised and leaks from different quarters, leads, so that we can better judge the prospects of these negotiations, especially since, if there is a second or third round, those will have to be followed as well. But Shervin Hajipour, whose song "Baraye," which he performed, gained worldwide fame and effectively became the anthem of the "Woman,

10:28 Life, Freedom" revolution, has performed a new song called "I Am Iran" ("Man Iranam"), in memory of the bloody Dey of 1404, the month in which the blood of thousands of brave children of the land of Iran was spilled on the ground. Shervin Hajipour has also stressed that he made and performed this song by himself, and that neither the studio, nor the company that distributes his work, nor any organization, nor anyone else is responsible, and that full responsibility for this work rests with him personally. Here's to the victory of Iran and Iranians.