TOI correspondent from Washington: “Iran has never won a war, but it has never lost a negotiation,” US President Donald Trump said in January 2020 during his first term. It is a line that may come back to haunt his administration in his second term.
After weeks of military escalation against Iran alongside Israel, an agitated Trump now appears to be rushing toward a deal that falls far short of the maximum goals declared at the beginning of the conflict: no “complete and complete surrender” by Iran, no collapse of the regime in Tehran, no certain dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, and no surrender of all highly enriched uranium stockpiles.Instead, the immediate American goal was reduced to something more modest: reopening the Strait of Hormuz and preventing a broader global economic collapse caused by the disruption of Gulf energy shipments. Trump said on Saturday that the Strait would “open” under a new understanding with Tehran, due to pressure from other Gulf allies. Ironically, the Strait was operating normally before the US-Israeli agreement
The military campaign began.“An agreement has been largely negotiated and is being finalized between the United States, Iran and various other countries… The final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced soon,” Trump said on Truth Social, the withdrawal falling between a storm of bizarre posts, including one accepting China, one raging against Democrats, and one claiming he is getting younger.
In leaks to the American media, American officials claimed that the proposed agreement includes a pledge from Tehran to give up the uranium it possesses and reopen the Strait unconditionally. But Iran’s state-linked Fars news agency said there were no such commitments, insisting that Tehran would continue to exercise sovereign control over transit routes, timing, permits and access across the strategic waterway through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass.According to reports circulating in diplomatic circles in Washington, the proposed framework could include a set of concessions by the United States, including partial easing of sanctions on Iran, access to about $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and a phased reopening of maritime traffic in exchange for renewed but unspecified discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program.