The Memo: Can Trump realistically better Obama’s Iran deal?

The diplomatic roller coaster between the United States and Iran took another several lurches on Tuesday. 

Talks that had been expected to take place in Islamabad were pitched into new doubt. The ceasefire was extended, but so, too, was the American blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, President Trump agreed to prolong the cessation. 

The president contended he was doing so because the Iranian government is “seriously fractured.” Trump said the pause would remain in place “until such time as their proposal is submitted.” 

The extension could clear the way for talks after it appeared uncertain whether Vice President Vance would even travel to the Pakistani city to lead the American negotiating team.

The Iranians were also hesitating about sending their delegation. 

A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry told state TV in the hours before Trump’s announcement that this was not evidence of “indecisiveness” but because “we are facing … unacceptable actions from the American counterpart,” The Associated Press reported.

There is a bigger question of if and when talks take place. 

Can the United States walk away with a better deal with the Iranians than the one struck under then-President Obama more than a decade ago?

Characteristically, Trump is adamant that the answer is yes.

“The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as ‘The Iran Nuclear Deal,’” Trump wrote on social media on Monday. He further lambasted the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as “one of the Worst Deals ever made.”

Any deal made under him, by contrast, would be “something that the entire World will be proud of,” the president insisted.

Foreign policy analysts warn that it is much easier said than done,........

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