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“Peace talks” with Iran – if they can be called that – are not moving quickly.
First, President Donald Trump canceled JD Vance’s visit to the talks. He then dismissed the low-level team of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Now the Iranians have come back with a proposal that is completely in their favor – and Trump has rejected it.
The murderous mullahs say they want to end their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz if the US ends its blockade of Iranian ports. So far so good.
TRUMP PUSHES AGAINST IRAN AS HORMUZ CLOSES AGAIN, BUT OPPONENTS DON’T CREDIT HIM FOR PROGRESS.
President Donald Trump seems to be very unsatisfied with Iran’s peace proposals. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But then – guess what – they will shelve the question of nuclear disarmament until an undetermined time in the future.
The president’s response in their voice: Never? Not working for you?
Trump told advisers he was not satisfied with the proposal sent by Pakistani negotiators. Frustrated might be a better word.
TRUMP’S LAST-MINUTE DELAY: WHY HE NEVER ATTACKED IRAN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
The president posted before the assassination attempt on Saturday: “Iran is having a hard time finding out who its leader is! They just don’t know! The conflict is between the ‘Hard-liners,’ who have been BADLY defeated on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not moderate at all (but are gaining respect!), CRAZY!”
Marco Rubio said: “What we’re dealing with here is a government run by a bunch of lunatics. They’re chanting ‘death to America, death to Israel,’ and we have to take that seriously.”
He added: “The goal here is simple: they will never have a nuclear weapon. And if you want to ensure that they never have a nuclear weapon, you have to take the things that will allow them to deliver one. That means their missiles, their drones, and their ability to threaten the region. So yes, that includes pursuing those capabilities.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized Iran’s leadership as “a regime run by a bunch of lunatics.” (Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Since US airstrikes have killed all of Iran’s top leaders, reports Axios, the government is being torn apart by “warring factions” that cannot settle on a “unified” place.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, was stunned.
Meanwhile, despite the ceasefire arranged by Trump, Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy, continue to attack each other in Lebanon. Hezbollah rejected the peace plan.
“The United States is no longer in a position to determine its policy toward independent countries,” Defense Department spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik said, adding that the Trump administration “must stop its illegal and unreasonable demands.”
Oil prices have risen as the peace process remains in limbo. Gas prices rose yesterday to $4.18 a litre, their highest level in four years.
All this has fueled criticism that Trump, under pressure from Israel, launched the war too hastily and without a clear exit strategy.
The president keeps saying he won the war and “we have all the cards.”
But Trump is under arrest for now. He wants badly to get out of an unpleasant war, but Iran, as usual, is adamant. And there is no agreement on suitable nukes without independent testing. This was the same dilemma facing the Obama administration.
WHY TRUMP’S WAR SPEECH FAILED: DECLARING VICTORY BUT STILL PUSHING IRAN BACK TO ‘STONE CAPS’
The United Arab Emirates, which recently left OPEC, could provide additional oil exports now freed from the alliance’s restrictions.
There is also a political side to this disagreement. If Trump can’t agree 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 wrote yesterday:
“Iran recently informed us that it is ‘in a state of collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Strait of Hormuz,’ as soon as possible.” So why would they tell him that?
“Iran recently informed us that it is ‘in a state of collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Strait of Hormuz,’ as soon as possible,” Trump said yesterday. (Photos by Shady Alassar/Anadolu/Getty)
Here’s one thing I know from decades of covering the man: Despite his threats to destroy Iranian civilization, Trump will never do it. His heart is not in it. He does not want to go down in the history books as the one who destroyed an ancient civilization.
That is why Trump continues to extend the cease-fire dates in hopes of reaching whatever he might call a meaningful deal.
The US military, as the president said, destroyed Iran’s air force and navy. In that sense, it was a huge victory, even if Democrats and some of Trump’s conservative media allies don’t want to admit it.
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But Iran has one card to play, and that is doing nothing.
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Donald Trump started this war, and two months later, he is still trying to find a way out of it.
