The bellum waged by Iran doesn’t seem to have been interruptum either by the April 8 ceasefire or the June 17 Memorandum of Understanding. The terms of those agreements to the contrary notwithstanding, the Iranian thugs have continued to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. From our perspective, this constituted the primary desideratum (a Latin word that has made its way into English) of these agreements. Vice President Vance’s hopes for a brighter day with his new Iranian friends have not materialized.
Yesterday the United States Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked General License X authorizing the unsanctioned sale of Iranian oil in lieu of General License X1. The new license shuts down Iranian oil sales after July 17.
At the same time Centcom announced that American forces had begun launching “powerful strikes” against Iran in response to attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The targets were said to include air defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missile sites, anti-ship cruise missile sites, drone launch sites, and port facilities. The Iranian thugs in turn launched attacks against American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.
President Trump said this morning that he thinks the ceasefire/interim agreement to end the war with Iran are “over.” The New York Post provides this pungent quote: “They’re vicious, violent people… so far as I’m concerned, it’s over. So far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars.”
Specifically with respect to the June 17 MOU, Trump said: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.” He said he would allow negotiators to keep talking, but that “it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”
The New York Times live updates include this quotable quote from Trump’s remarks to the press at the NATO conference in Turkey: “We make a deal, and everyone’s agreed. No nuclear weapons. We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
Trunp’s remarks hark back to the formal signing of the MOU on June 17. Trump doesn’t share Vance’s optimistic assessment of his new friends. I hope Trump lets him know. As Roy Orbison put it in “It’s Over”: “It breaks your heart in two / [They’ve] been untrue…You won’t be seeing rainbows anymore.” Or so we can hope.
As General Jack Keane has repeatedly observed througout the process reflected in the agreements noted above, the Iranian tiger has not changed its stripes. Neither the Iranian authorities nor our Pakistani/Qatari intermediaries operate in good faith. This should not come as a shock to us.
The Iranian regime excels in the art of protracted negotiation and meaningless agreement. The Iranians have read the terms of their agreements with the Trump administration as signs of weakness.
