Republican on stalled Iran talks: ‘Starting to feel like we’re Charlie Brown’ trying to kick football

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) on Tuesday said the stalled peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are “starting to feel like we’re Charlie Brown” trying to kick the football.

Gimenez appeared on “Varney & Co.” on Fox Business, where host Stuart Varney asked the lawmaker if he agreed with a Washington Post op-ed about the conflict. It suggests that President Trump urging Israel to call off its attacks in Lebanon actually helps Iran.

“I hate to depart from my president, but actually I agree with it,” Gimenez said. “Look, I’m starting to feel like we’re Charlie Brown and Iran is Lucy and every time we go kick the ball, it’s been taken away. You know, we’re close to a deal, a day away, two days away from a deal, and it’s not happening.”

Gimenez was referring to the “Peanuts” comic strip gag where the character Charlie Brown slips after he attempts to kick a football, only for Lucy van Pelt to swipe the football away before he can kick it.

The Florida Republican said if he were “in Vegas right now, I’d be betting against in two days, we’re going to be right where we are today.”

“I think that bad behavior deserves punishment, and unfortunately, the Iranians are exhibiting bad behavior, and they’re not suffering any consequences for that,” Gimenez added.

He agreed with Varney that Iran is winning the conflict, suggesting that the U.S. needs to “take away their trump card, which is –– pardon the pun, OK –– it’s the Straits of Hormuz.” If the U.S. can take control of the strait and reopen it, Gimenez said, would give the U.S. leverage to have Iran “suffer the consequences” if they do not meet any of the U.S.’s terms.

“Right now, they think they’re playing us — I happen to agree with them — I think they are playing us,” he said. “And I think we need to take a little bit more direct action and take away that trump card and make them suffer a little bit for those days, every day that goes by we don’t get a deal.”

Trump has vowed a U.S. response after Iran shot down an Apache helicopter near Oman’s coast later Monday. Two crew members were rescued by an unmanned Navy vessel on Tuesday.

The U.S. and Iran have maintained a fragile ceasefire as they work out a peace deal that would reopen the strait, end the conflict and terminate Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has remained defiant, firing retaliatory missiles at Israel after the Israeli Defense Force launched attacks on Lebanon on Sunday.

Iranian officials have maintained that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon are a critical component of the ongoing ceasefire with the U.S.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that now that Israel and Iran have called off more attacks on each other, “now we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not in any way allow nuclear weapons.” He said the strait will reopen after the deal is signed, which he estimated could be in “two or three days.”