Jeffrey Sachs says Iran’s negotiators have been targeted for assassination each time talks occurred, so it now refuses direct US negotiations. Genuine deals are impossible since the US demands unenforceable compliance; he urges simply stopping attacks and withdrawing, as Iran seeks only regional security free of US interference in the conflict started by Netanyahu and Trump on February 28, 2026.
Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist, Columbia University professor, and director of the Center for Sustainable Development, renowned for his work on poverty reduction and sustainable development, as well as for advising governments and the United Nations on global economic issues.
Jeffrey Sachs says in an interview for Judging Freedom (July 27, 2026):
“They’ve been at the negotiating table. Each time they were at the negotiating table, they were literally killed. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean each time the United States brought Iran to the negotiating table, they were killed. And we know that there was an Israeli attempt, or let’s say it was widely reported and not refuted, that there was an Israeli desire to kill the very senior negotiators on return from one of these latest negotiations. Iran has said in recent hours, and because I’m non-stop on the road these days, I’m not catching every report, but Iran, as far as I heard, said:
“We are not negotiating and are not going
to negotiate with the United States.”
”They’ll talk to intermediaries, but they won’t negotiate with the United States. They get it. There is no negotiation right now with the US because the US will not sign an agreement that doesn’t compel Iran to do what the US demands, and the US has absolutely no way to compel Iran to do that. So the negotiating agreement set is zero in this case.
I love negotiation. I think it’s the civilized way. But with the United States, I would just say go for something completely informal. Just stop shooting, stop bombing, go home. Say whatever you want about going home, but just go home. The Iranians will not exploit that by further attacks in their neighborhood because they have no interest whatsoever in continuing to attack their own neighbors. Their entire interest is to find a new regional security arrangement with their neighbors, with basically the United States not interfering in that. And so Iran has no interest at all to exploit a US departure from this idiocy that was started on February 28th, 2026 by Netanyahu and Trump.”
