Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Iran Pauses Peace Talks
The ceasefire between the US and Iran is barely holding, with both sides firing munitions at the other in the last 24 hours. The Israelis are continuing their annexation of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah is shooting back. The idea of a ceasefire means to cease firing. That has not happened. The Iranian government has watched as its proxies in Lebanon have been taking a beating for weeks despite the official existence of a ceasefire. Today, they announced that they are suspending the indirect negotiations with the US via by Pakistan. The talks are not over, but for the next while, there will be no exchanges between the warring states. While there are no talks, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and will stay that way. The Trump administration is in trouble, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the key.
The US and Israel entered into this war in tandem thinking that Iran would collapse under the pressure they were bringing to bear. They believed that the Iranian regime was weakened to the point of failure after the attack they launched in June and after the uprising in Iran in January. When the Iranians proved to be too tough a nut to crack so easily, the two attacking allies noticed that they had different war aims.
For the Israelis, their goal has been a failed state in Iran for ages. They believe, wrongly, that if the Iranians are fighting among themselves, they will be unable to cause Israel any harm. Drones and suicide bombers are cheap and do not require a massive outlay of money and manpower to use. The belief that a failed Iran would make Israel safer is incorrect, but it is the Israeli belief.
The Americans are less concerned about the Iranian government. The White House simply wants the Strait of Hormuz open again, an end to Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programs and for Iran to give up on its proxies.
As a result of these differences, the Israelis are less interested in an end to the fighting than the Americans. Israel has accepted a ceasefire with Iran, but it maintains a war with Hezbollah. The US would love to extracate itself from this mess (quagmire) and get the world economy on a healthier path. So, the US is loath to resume the fighting. Israel has never stopped fighting.
After weeks of this non-ceasefire, Iran lost its patience. The Guardian reported this morning:
Iran says there will be no peace talks with the US until its demands on the cessation of Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza are met, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
Tasnim reported that Irans negotiating team is pulling out of message exchanges through mediators with the US over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.
Tasnim further reported that Iran and what it called its “resistance front”, or proxies, will look to completely block the strait of Hormuz. It said it will also look to “activate” other fronts, including the Bab el-Mandem strait, which sits off the coast of Yemen, across the Arabian peninsula from the strait of Hormuz [the southern entrance to the Red Sea].
The president now has a high mountain to climb. Can he get Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop fighting in Lebanon and thereby persuade the Iranians to rejoin the talks? If he cannot, the Iranians have said the ceasefire might not hold.
Deutsche Welt reported the US president as saying on social media, "I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way, have already been turned back. Likewise, thorugh [sic] highly placed representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop -- that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel."
One douibts it. After all, he claimed the talks with Iran were continuing at a rapid pace after Iran said they were pausing them. Things are about to get interesting, most likely in a bad way.
The decline under the Trump administration continues to accelerate.
© Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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