The first face-to-face high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran since 1979 have ended without agreement. Hardly surprising; both sides put forward positions not subject to actual bargaining.
On the U.S. side, JD Vance’s message to Iran was that no uranium enrichment for any purpose would be acceptable to the U.S., which is a non-starter for Iran.
And on the Iranian side, the insistence on sovereign control of the Strait, with ship movement subject to Iran’s military and a toll, is unacceptable to the U.S., the Gulf states and most other countries. Iran’s second demand, that Israel must stop bombing Lebanon, is reasonable, but as a test of U.S. influence over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is unlikely to work.
What does seem negotiable are Iran’s demand for an end to sanctions, a permanent peace with the U.S. and Iran’s pledge (with resumed international inspections) not to seek a nuclear weapon. That would take us back to Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, which Donald Trump tore up. We’re now paying the price for that stupidity.
Some observers thought Vance’s termination of talks might be a negotiating tactic. But Trump showed otherwise when he announced a U.S. blockade of the Strait, saying “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL.”
Sounds more like the death knell for the cease-fire. Iran, on the other hand, says it hopes talks will continue. Pakistan’s prime minister, host of the talks, said on Face the Nation that, “The talks are not dead. There’s a stalemate.”
He needs to talk to Trump. As often happens with this president, his thoughts stray from the hard work of finding a way to get out of this costly and unnecessary war to personal pique.
Talking to reporters recently, he spent most of his time denouncing the news media’s coverage of the war—with specific reference to CNN and The New York Times—as “almost treasonous.”
He should look in the mirror.
Mel Gurtov is professor emeritus of political science at Portland State University.
