CNN guest Trita Parsi claimed Iran’s theocratic leaders believe they hold “far more leverage” heading into a crucial meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan as a result of how the war has gone.

Parsi — the Iranian-born executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft — joined CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield to discuss Vance’s negotiations with Iran on Saturday afternoon.

He said Vance being there is an “important factor,” considering he is the highest-ranking American politicians to meet with Iranian leaders since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — but he said the “biggest factor” is “what has happened in the war.” Iran’s leaders are emboldened heading into the meeting because they feel the war has gone better than expected, he argued.

Parsi said:

Very importantly, the Iranians are meeting directly with the U.S. team, including with Vance himself. This is something that the Iranians in the past have been very hesitant about.

The reason I think they’re doing it right now is because they feel much stronger. They feel they have far more leverage than they did before as a result of how this war has gone.

And that, I think, is a critical factor as to why potentially these talks will go differently, because the modalities are important. And if the two sides can talk directly to each other, if both sides feel confident, there’s a higher chance of getting success.

His appearance on CNN comes as Vance is meeting with Iranian leaders in Pakistan on Saturday, 42 days after Operation Epic Fury began.

Parsi has been making the media rounds lately, including telling Democracy Now that President Donald Trump was getting “increasingly desperate” about the war last week. The Quincy Institute says on its website its mission is to “promote ideas that move U.S. foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace.”

His interpretation of the war is much different than how Trump has described the war, with the president saying the war has obliterated Iran’s navy and set its nuclear program back years. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said last week the war has “decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat-ineffective for years to come. ”

About 3,600 Iranians have been killed since the war began on February 28, when joint U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; dozens of other leaders from Iran’s regime have been eliminated since then. There have been 13 American troops who have died since the war began.

Vance’s meeting comes less than a week after Trump celebrated the daring rescue of two Air Force crew members who had been shot down behind enemy lines.

Watch above via CNN.

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