Trump's Iran 'win' pursuit blocks negotiated exit — SkimNews
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- Trump views the U.S. Navy's Strait of Hormuz operation as successful in blocking Iran's imports and oil exports while restoring non-Iranian oil trade, and does not regard the conflict as stalemated.
- Trump is continuing to squeeze Iran through naval blockade — an act of war — despite never having stated clear war aims, including at times demanding 'unconditional surrender.'
- Vice President JD Vance stated last week that 'meaningful' reduction in Iran's uranium enrichment would be necessary for peace; previous attacks already largely disabled the nuclear program.
- Trump abandoned the 159-page JCPOA in 2018, and any new nuclear deal of comparable detail is unrealistic to complete during the war, making a comprehensive agreement an unreasonable condition for ending it.
- Trump's recent Saudi nuclear deal allows Saudi uranium enrichment up to 20% without the most stringent international inspections, which the article argues makes Iranian nuclear restraint politically untenable.
- Israeli airstrikes killed Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, two weeks into the war — removing a Khamenei-regime pragmatist who could have made credible commitments on behalf of Tehran.
- The author recommends a skeletal ceasefire deferring substantive negotiations, similar to the June MoU, without the ambiguous Strait of Hormuz language that led the earlier deal to break down.
Why it matters: Trump's 'win' frame eliminates negotiating partners on both sides — Larijani, the pragmatist who could deal, is dead, and surviving hardliners have no incentive to concede — while setting a bar (JCPOA was 159 pages) no wartime deal can reach. The Saudi nuclear deal adds a structural obstacle: any Iranian government will refuse restrictions below what a Gulf rival enjoys with U.S. approval.
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