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Notes -
Allegedly, the talks ended when JD Vance proffered this "final offer" to the Iranians:
End all uranium enrichment
Dismantle all major nuclear enrichment facilities
Retrieve the alleged 400kg of highly enriched uranium believed to be underground
Accept a broader peace, security and de-escalation framework which includes regional allies
End funding for groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis
Fully open the Straight of Hormuz, charging no tolls for passage
I haven't seen anything JD Vance offered the Iranians in exchange for the above, something the US is demonstrably incapable of anywhere close to accomplishing through military means without vast escalation, an escalation which the Trump admin simply cannot accomplish.
So, Iran, our red-line demands are that you dismantle your entire nuclear program, abandon all regional allies, and give up your strategic leverage, or else! The Iranians were obviously going to walk away from this.
This is the sort of DOA wishlist which will end any negotiation as entirely pointless. The Iranians are not the ones who need to save face here. The Iranians are not the ones who need the war to end now. They planned for and were comfortable with a longer war of attrition where they would bring the world to its economic knees because their strategy is to split the coalition against them by causing pain to everyone and getting everyone to blame the Trump Admin. This strategy appears to be working pretty well. And their Houthi allies can close the Bab al Mandab at any moment, too.
The Trump admin accepted the 10 point framework to get a ceasefire which the IRGC would actually assent to, which is basically just a major American strategic defeat, and then the Trump administration in yet another example of why this administration is agreement-incapable completely discarded that 10 point framework which they signed off on, which you can tell by the Pakistanis publishing the entire message with the subject line included.
The Americans immediately attempted to back out claiming Lebanon wasn't covered knowing full well it was, allowing the Israelis to continue their civilian slaughter ethnic cleansing campaign in Lebanon, to which the Iranians responded by not allowing any passages through the Straight of Hormuz. And so after markets closed, we're back to Trump talking about ridiculous destructive new plans for how we're totally not losing this war through a blockade. I guess we'll see if the Iranians start bombing Israel again in response to Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign.
Trump needed an offramp from his insane threats and so he just lied, again, to get a "ceasefire" which he could lie about, again, and then when the Iranians approached the negotiation in a serious manner we gave them this detached-from-reality wishlist of Israeli demands. Completely embarrassing and ridiculous.
That "final offer" is literally the terms of an unconditional surrender lmao. You have to earn those... Good luck Mr President!
No, an unconditional surrender would have the US writing a new constitution for Iran and holding elections in 5 years.
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