‘Biden was lukewarm about a deal; Trump is eager,’ says disgraced Iran envoy
Robert Malley, the former Biden administration Iran envoy who was ousted for allegedly mishandling classified information, says he is optimistic about the Trump administration’s upcoming nuclear talks with Iran.
Malley—who took a teaching position at Yale University after being booted from the State Department in 2023 amid an FBI investigation into his misuse of classified materials—told the New York Times on Friday that President Donald Trump is more likely to succeed in his efforts to broker a fresh nuclear pact with Tehran than his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Biden was lukewarm about a deal; Trump is eager,” Malley said. “Biden fixates on domestic politics; Trump couldn’t care less. Biden was calculating; Trump, impulsive.”
“Trump is throwing caution, prudence and logic to the wind,” he continued. “Which is why there is probably a greater chance of some kind of understanding now than there ever was under the prior administration.”
The former Iran envoy’s comments come as the Trump administration gears up for the opening round of diplomatic talks with Iran’s hardline regime. The Saturday discussions are already shrouded in uncertainty, with the White House insisting that negotiations will take place directly with Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, says Oman will act as an intermediary between foreign minister Abbas Aragchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Malley himself led talks with Iran during the Biden administration, though they did not lead anywhere. The administration relaxed sanctions on Iran, granting it billions of dollars in proceeds, but could not land direct negotiations with the Iranians. Trump, for his part, implemented fresh sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program ahead of this weekend’s negotiations.
Malley was known for engaging in back-channel diplomacy, which reportedly included potentially unsanctioned talks with China.
Two years into Biden’s presidency, in 2023, Malley stopped briefing Congress about his diplomatic efforts. It soon became clear that he had been placed on administrative leave pending a State Department investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Malley eventually had his top secret security clearance pulled, and the FBI picked up the investigation into his activities.
The Biden administration never released information about the findings of its investigation into Malley before leaving office. The case was further complicated by Malley’s hiring of Ariane Tabatabai, whom Semafor identified as a member of a secret pro-Tehran advocacy organization run by the Islamic nation’s foreign ministry. Tabatabai was later transferred to the Pentagon, even as GOP lawmakers opened investigations into her interactions with Iran.
Trump requested negotiations with Iran over the country’s nuclear program in early March. When it rejected the diplomatic overtures, Trump leveled sanctions and repeatedly vowed to bomb Iran.
Now, weeks later, Tehran is expressing optimism about Saturday’s inaugural talks.
“If the American side does not raise irrelevant issues and demands and puts aside threats and intimidation, there is a good possibility of reaching an agreement,” Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, said on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran believes in dialogue and interaction based on mutual respect, and we reject any form of bullying or coercion.”
In Congress, GOP lawmakers say that any new deal must permanently dismantle the country’s nuclear infrastructure.
“The regime in Iran must understand that there is no situation which allows it to retain a nuclear weapons capability, and there is no scenario in which the United States will accept anything short of its full and permanent disarmament,” a coalition of nine House lawmakers led by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.), wrote the administration on Thursday.
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