Esper: Iranians want to ‘get what they can’ before midterms

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said late Wednesday that Iran will attempt to leverage as much as it can in peace negotiations with the U.S. ahead of midterm elections, after which he predicted President Trump will “unleash” America’s military might on the country.

“His hand will become freer after the election for sure, and the Iranians know that,” Esper said of Trump on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” “So this is the Iranians’ time of maximum negotiation — get what they can now, because after Nov. 4, when [Trump] … doesn’t have to worry about the politics and economics, he can really unleash the United States military once again after Iran.”

A memorandum of understanding to end the conflict between Washington and Tehran, signed in June, included a ceasefire between the two sides and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane. The brief, controversial document did not, however, include details about the future of Iran’s nuclear material, a matter that was to be resolved during later talks.

But the agreement appears to be on life support after the U.S. struck about 90 targets inside Iran on Wednesday evening.

That followed U.S. strikes against Iran on Tuesday evening that lasted for hours, retaliation for Tehran targeting three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, according to the Trump administration.

Iran, in turn, has fired drones and missiles at Bahrain and Kuwait, which are hosting U.S. military assets and troops.

Trump, who was visibly angered by Iranian strikes, on Wednesday said the agreement was “over.”

“I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum,” Trump said during the NATO summit, adding it was a waste of time to deal with the country’s negotiators.

Esper, however, said he didn’t think the agreement is dead because both sides have no interest in returning to all-out war.

“President Trump, of course, certainly does not want to return to all-out war because he does not want to see oil prices rise, and that means gas prices go up as well. And that’s not good for the midterm elections,” he said.

Esper, who served as Defense secretary during Trump’s first term in the White House, predicted that the tit-for-tat between the U.S. and Iran will continue “for a while.”

“It settles down, diplomacy takes back over, some ships pass through [the strait], it flares up again when they take shots at them, and we go through this cycle over and over and over again,” he said.