Why Iran talks are in limbo as Trump scrambles for a way out of the war he started
The "peace talks" with Iran – if they can even be called that – are going nowhere fast.
First, President Donald Trump canceled a visit by JD Vance to the non-existent talks. Then he canceled the lower-level delegation of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Now the Iranians have come back with a proposal that entirely favors them – and which Trump has already rejected.
The murderous mullahs say they want to end their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. halts its blockade of Iranian ports. So far so good.
But then – guess what – they would put off the question of nuclear disarmament till some undetermined time in the future.
The president’s response to their pitch: How about never? Does never work for you?
Trump has told advisers he is not satisfied with the proposal, submitted through the mediators in Pakistan. Frustrated might be a better word.
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The president posted before Saturday’s attempted assassination: "Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!"
Marco Rubio said: "What we’re dealing with here is a regime that’s run by a bunch of lunatics. They chant ‘death to America, ‘death to Israel,’ and we have to take that seriously."
He added: "The goal here is simple: they can never have a nuclear weapon. And if you want to make sure they never have a nuclear weapon, you have to take away the things that would allow them to deliver one. That means their missiles, their drones, and their ability to threaten the region. So yes, that includes going after those capabilities."
Since U.S. airstrikes killed all of Iran’s top leaders, Axios reports, the government is consumed by "warring factions" that cannot settle on a "coherent" position.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, has been taking a hard line.
Meanwhile, despite a ceasefire orchestrated by Trump, Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, continue to attack each other in Lebanon. Hezbollah has rejected the peace plan.
"The United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policy tto independent nations," said Defense Ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik, adding that the Trump administration "must abandon its illegal and irrational demands."
Oil prices have shot up as the peace process remains in limbo. Gas prices rose yesterday to an average of $4.18 a gallon, their highest level in four years.
All this has fueled criticism that Trump, under pressure from Israel, launched the war impulsively and without a clear exit strategy.
The president keeps saying he’s won the war and "we have all the cards."
But Trump is boxed in at the moment. He badly wants out of an unpopular war, but Iran, as usual, is being intransigent. And no agreement on nukes is worth anything without independent inspections. This was the same dilemma that faced the Obama administration.
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The United Arab Emirates, which just left OPEC, could provide additional oil shipments now freed from the alliance’s restrictions.
There is a political dimension to this standoff as well. If Trump can’t come to terms on Iran’s nuclear enrichment – the very reason for going to war – it will undermine his ability to claim victory, as Tehran well knows.
The president posted yesterday:
"Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’ They want us to 'Open the Hormuz Strait,' as soon as possible." Now why would they tell him that?
Here’s one thing I know from decades of covering the man: Despite his threats to destroy Iranian civilization, Trump will never do that. His heart isn’t in it. He doesn’t want to go down in the history books as having wiped out an ancient civilization.
That’s why Trump keeps extending the ceasefire deadlines in hopes of reaching anything he can pronounce a reasonable agreement.
The U.S. military, as the president says, has obliterated Iran’s air force and navy. In that sense, it’s been a major victory, even if Democrats and some of Trump’s former allies in conservative media don’t want to admit it.
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But Iran does have one card to play, and that is doing nothing.
Donald Trump started this war, and after two months, is still trying to figure out how to get out of it.