This week, the United States hosted two sets of peace talks in Geneva: indirect talks with Iran and trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia. Neither achieved much, which was unsurprising since the men leading the U.S. delegation for both have more experience in real estate deals than conflict resolution.

Oman mediated the talks with Iran, which occurred under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s military threats and calls for regime change. The rapid military buildup in the region echoes the buildup near Venezuela just before the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro but with preparations for something far more complex even than the 12-day Iran-Israel war that the United States joined in last June. 

Trump’s initial threats concerned the Iranian government’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests last month. He encouraged the protests and claimed on his Truth Social account, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” But the Iranian government successfully crushed the unrest, and arrests and abuse of dissidents continue. The plight of Iran’s people didn’t appear to be on the agenda at the talks this week. 

The Iranians responded with threats of their own. As talks were underway, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil export route, in a clear effort to remind the world of the havoc it could wreak on global energy prices if it chose to do so. 

Despite the seemingly high stakes, the talks ended with nothing more than some........

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