Ed Morrissey – HotAir.com
I wouldn’t say nobody. That’s the problem. One side keeps playing games while the other side keeps demonstrating its seriousness.
That pattern will likely repeat itself today in Islamabad, but the US plans to let it unfold in the open so no one will get confused. Donald Trump has sent J.D. Vance again to lead the negotiations with Iran to end the war on American terms. It’s not clear yet whether Vance, Steven Witkoff, and Jared Kushner will see anyone across the table, but the US will show up as the ceasefire deadline approaches:
Vice President JD Vance and the US delegation to the peace talks here with Iran are en route to Pakistan and expected to land within hours, President Trump on Monday told The Post — adding that he was willing to meet with senior Iranian leaders if a breakthrough is reached.
“We’re supposed to have the talks,” Trump said in a brief interview, brushing aside doubts about whether negotiations would fall apart. “So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games.” …
But the president declined to spell out what consequences Tehran could face if it refuses to comply or if talks collapse — particularly as the ceasefire deadline looms.
“Well, I don’t want to get into that with you,” he said when asked whether the US would escalate measures, such as seizing additional ships tied to Iran. “You can imagine. It wouldn’t be pretty.”
Asked whether the US knows who is leading Iran, Trump said: “We have pretty good ideas, and we think we’re dealing with the right people.”
Duane wrote more about Iran’s conundrum this morning. The assumption that no one’s playing games may be little more than wishful thinking, though, even with Iran’s regime at an existential brink. The question is less about who’s in charge and more about whether anyone’s really in charge in Tehran. The IRGC hardliners control their military and terror operations, while the civilian government controls the foreign policy apparatus. That creates the problem seen this weekend, when the diplomats promise something that the IRGC refuses to deliver. The IRGC and the shreds of its maritime assets opened fire on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in defiance of the ceasefire signed by the regime’s diplomats, and the US escalated by seizing an IRGC tanker, its crew, and its assets.