‘Not War’ Situationship With Iran Drags on as Peace Talks Flounder

Despite administration claims that “hostilities” with Iran ended in early April, a real, lasting peace remains elusive. Negotiations fell apart once again over the weekend as Iran rejected President Donald Trump’s latest offer and delivered its own list of demands instead – a move Trump called totally unacceptable.

Reparations for Iran?

After weeks of failed negotiations, President Trump offered Iran a simple way to end the conflict for now: a one-page “memorandum of understanding.” It would end the war – or “not war” if you consider the beginning of the administration’s tenuous ceasefire with Iran, such that it is, an actual “end of hostilities” – and pave the way for future talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

One might have expected Iran to reject Trump’s offer, but rogue nation’s actual response over the weekend went beyond mere rejection. Iran’s counteroffer included ending the blockade without anything in return, reparations for Iran from the US, and complete sovereignty over the Straight of Hormuz.

Reparations for what, the bombings and the blockade? Those were “reparations,” if you will, for Iran’s past behavior. From attacking ships in the straight to supporting terrorist organizations like Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah, Iran has for decades devoted itself to spreading destruction and chaos in the world. That the regime would have the audacity to demand reparations from the US at this point simply demonstrates just how doomed any sincere peace negotiations really are.

As for “sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran makes up only the northern border. The land on the south side of the waterway, the Musandam Peninsula, is home to Oman and the United Arab Emirates. As such, the strait is – and if the rest of the world has its way, always will be – international waters. Finally, Trump’s goal of ending Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will never fly with the middle eastern regime.

So Much for Peace

President Trump was quick with his own response. “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives,’” he posted on Truth Social Sunday afternoon. “I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Reports from earlier in the week suggested the administration’s goal was to work with Iran toward another short-term agreement to keep fighting paused for the next 30 days and to end Iran’s blockade of the strait. As well, Trump reportedly offered to lift US sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds in return for a moratorium on nuclear enrichment. Now the president has a warning.

“For 47 years the Iranians have been ‘tapping’ us along, keeping us waiting, killing our people with their roadside bombs, destroying protests, and recently wiping out 42,000 innocent, unarmed protestors, and laughing at our now GREAT AGAIN Country,” he wrote in another Truth Social post on Sunday. “They will be laughing no longer!”

 In response to questions about whether US combat operations were over, Trump pointed out that “they are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they’re done.” That line, perhaps, is the best way to sum up the Iranian mindset. No matter how devastated the nation’s military might be, Iran is committed to at least trying to continue fighting. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media that his country would “never bow down to the enemy” and that it would “defend national interests with strength” – though he failed to explain where that strength might come from at this point.

President Trump plans a trip to Beijing Wednesday in hopes of, among other things, convincing China’s President Xi Jinping to push Tehran to make a deal. But any real progress toward lasting peace remains, for now, just a dream.