For Donald Trump, Declaring Victory Over Iran Is His Best Option

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So far, attempts to negotiate a comprehensive US-Iran agreement have been stymied by maximalist demands.

According to most reports, diplomatic efforts to end the Iran War have fizzled out. Iran appears to have ended indirect negotiations, following President Donald Trump’s ominous and demented threats to destroy “a whole civilization” if Iran fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his 8 p.m. Eastern Time deadline on Tuesday, April 7. This was piled on earlier threats to destroy Iran’s power plants, bridges, and critical infrastructure.

The various proposals to end the conflict are too maximalist to ensure success. The US demands for ending the war have featured some combination of Iran scrapping its enriched uranium stockpile, cutting ties with its proxy militias, ending the Hormuz blockade, and gutting its missile program. Tehran’s conditions include security guarantees, an end to economic sanctions, and reparations for wartime damages. Since neither side will accept those terms, the result is diplomatic theater, the illusion of progress while the actual war continues and intensifies.

At this stage, instead of chasing an impossible grand bargain, the........

© The National Interest