Both U.S. and Iranian press suggest a deal is near between Tehran and Washington to end the war.Tasnim News, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the regime is demanding the release of the country’s frozen assets as a first step. Nour News, close to the Supreme National Security Council, describes $11 billion upfront, mostly released by Qatar. It continued to describe an agreement to allow a certain number of ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz, without explicitly ruling out Iran’s tolling scheme. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is correct to write that the deal “seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Rob Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world.” Now that the Iranian regime recognizes it can extract concessions by threatening freedom of navigation, it will likely do so repeatedly.
President Donald Trump’s team, meanwhile, may spin victory in the hope that gasoline prices decline. But even if the region is temporarily stabilized, Trump and his team should have no illusions: There will be a wave of Iran-sponsored assassinations in the United States. After Trump ordered the death of Qods Force chief Qassem Soleimani on the Baghdad airport road in 2020, the Islamic Republic put out hits on Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton, and Iran envoy Brian Hook.
