Amid stalled peace talks and a US blockade on Iranian ports, the Trump administration has added a new member to its negotiating team who comes from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a notoriously hawkish think tank that has been lobbying for aggressive action against the Islamic Republic for many years.
Nick Stewart, the head of the FDD’s lobbying arm, has joined the office of US envoy Steve Witkoff, journalist Alex Marquardt first reported on his Substack on Friday. The White House confirmed the appointment to Marquardt, calling Stewart a “sharp, seasoned policy expert who is a valuable asset to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s talented team.”
Stewart worked in the State Department during the first Trump administration under then-US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, who oversaw and increasing economic sanctions regime following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, known as the Iran nuclear deal.
“Hiring a FDD staffer onto your team strongly suggests that reaching a diplomatic deal is not Trump’s objective,” Trita Parsi, an Iran expert who works as the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote on X in response to Stewart’s appointment.
Iran has reportedly submitted a new proposal to the US to reach a complete end to the war within 30 days, and President Trump has already cast doubt on it and suggested he’d rather continue the conflict.
“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
