According to Donald Trump, the US and Iran are moving closer to a deal on how to bring about an end to the war he and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu started on 28 February, when they launched air strikes against Iranian targets.
Provided there is no resumption of hostilities, not just in the Gulf but also in Lebanon, Yemen and other countries, both sides look set to agree to extend the current ceasefire, with thirty days of further talks to demine and reopen the Strait of Hormuz and sixty to resolve the Iran nuclear issue.
Despite Trump’s often violent rhetoric, it seems that even he is belatedly recognising that talking and negotiating is better than fighting and killing. This is perhaps because the US, which has the world’s most powerful military, failed to deliver on the shifting goals that Trump gave for Operation Epic Fury.
Shorts
Even so, the deal that is being discussed shows both Trump’s hypocrisy – having slammed previous deals put in place by his predecessors like Barack Obama – and the hard sell he will have to do to convince US voters that the war has been worth it; both in lives lost and in the damage to their wallets with rising petrol prices and other costs.
