Veteran Washington correspondent Neil W. McCabe said Friday that continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remains the greatest threat to the newly signed U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.
Appearing on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, McCabe discussed reports that planned U.S.-Iran negotiations in Switzerland had been postponed and argued that the conflict in Lebanon could undermine progress made by Washington and Tehran.
“The foreign minister from Iran put out a statement today saying, ‘Don’t worry about the negotiations in Switzerland being canceled. That was just, we were just gonna have a ceremony to do a formal sort of wet signature on the memorandum of understanding, but that’s really not necessary now since it was digitally signed, and then the final language got the wet signature at Versailles with President Trump,'” McCabe said.
According to McCabe, Iranian officials have attempted to downplay the cancellation of the meeting in Switzerland.
“We’ll start up our negotiations, and we’re not really concerned about it,” he said, summarizing Tehran’s position.
However, McCabe warned that the situation on the ground in Lebanon presents a far greater challenge.
“On another level, though, Hezbollah and Israel are still going at it like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and…the Iranians can’t get Hezbollah to step away, and we can’t get Israel to step away, and these guys just need to get this thing settled,” he said. “That’s what’s gonna derail everything.”
His comments came as reports emerged that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a ceasefire, though accusations of violations quickly followed.
“It took Israel four minutes to break that ceasefire And they killed like 50 people, no joke,” McCabe said. “It’s bad, what are they doing? I don’t know. So I just don’t get it.”
McCabe argued that negotiations ultimately succeed only when all parties accept the realities created by events on the ground.
“Obviously, nothing is actually achieved through negotiations,” he said. “Negotiations are when the different parties involved accept the reality on the ground.”
He continued, “Different parties come to this thing, to a negotiation, each with their own sort of delusions of what the situation’s like on the ground, and then the negotiations are when each side gives the other a dose of reality.”
According to McCabe, successful diplomacy requires adversaries to recognize a common understanding of events.
“Both sides agree that they’re going to share a reality,” he said.
Drawing a comparison to personal reconciliation, McCabe added, “The message of an apology is really, ‘I accept your narrative, and I am not going to live in a parallel universe. I’m going to live in the same world you live in. We are now on the same page. I accept your version of events.'”
“That’s what the negotiations are. We’re going to accept a shared reality, and right now there is no shared reality,” he said.
McCabe noted that neither Israel nor Hezbollah are direct signatories to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, complicating implementation of the agreement.
“Hezbollah and Israel are not signatories to the memorandum of understanding, and none of the Gulf states are signatories to the memorandum of understanding,” he stressed.
He also pointed out that congressional sanctions on Iran could become an issue during future negotiations.
“A lot of the sanctions that the administration has pledged to lift were put on by Congress, so this is like legislation,” McCabe said. “And so maybe people on Capitol Hill will say, ‘I’m not sure you can lift those sanctions, sir.'”
Despite those challenges, McCabe argued that the central measure of success for President Donald Trump will be whether Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been eliminated.
“I think the key thing is for Trump’s honor. He needed to eliminate the Iranian nuclear weapons program,” McCabe said. “And with that achieved, if it is achieved, then everything else is fine and just whatever.”
“If Trump can hang his hat on eliminating the Iranian nuclear weapons program, that is a win,” he added.
McCabe said he believes the chances of achieving that goal are stronger now than during previous diplomatic efforts because of the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and personnel.
“The generation of Iranian leaders who spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the facilities and the materials and the training and the personnel, they’re all dead,” he said. “All the scientists are dead, all the engineers are dead, all the generals are dead.”
McCabe added that Iran may ultimately decide continuing the program is no longer worth the cost, saying, “I think that there’s a very good shot that the people inside Iran have said, ‘Maybe we don’t need to spend another $100 billion on this program.'”
He also contrasted the current negotiations with the Obama-era nuclear agreement, citing comments made by Vice President JD Vance.
“The main difference between the Iranian deal negotiated by Obama and the one negotiated by President Trump is that the Obama deal was dealing with an up-and-running, functioning program with stockpiles and enrichment and personnel and facilities,” McCabe said. “President Trump is talking to people who have none of that because it’s all been taken away.”
Turning to domestic political implications, McCabe praised Vance’s growing role within the administration and his involvement in foreign policy.
“JD Vance brings a level of intelligence and confidence, competence, trust with the president,” McCabe said.
He noted that Vance recently defended Trump while avoiding direct criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“He framed his criticism of the Israelis as a defense of Trump, which I thought was a very elegant turn by him,” he said.
McCabe also pointed to increased public appearances by Vance as evidence of a broader political rollout ahead of future elections.
“You’re seeing a real rollout for Vice President JD Vance,” he said. “The big question is who can generate the most positive activity for the midterms because presidential candidates are judged by their impact on the previous midterms.”
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on YouTube / Rumble / Roku / AppleTV
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/0u5x7K7ecR— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) June 19, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
