Nothing says diplomacy quite like declaring a ceasefire dead in all caps on social media and then agreeing to keep chatting anyway. President Donald Trump announced Friday that Iran has asked to continue negotiations with the United States, which he graciously accepted, right after making it crystal clear the previous ceasefire agreement is toast. As Trending Politics reported, the president took to Truth Social with a message that somehow managed to be both an olive branch and a flamethrower at the same time.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" Trump wrote. The scare quotes around "talks" are doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
The backstory here is genuinely wild. Three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers were attacked this week in the Persian Gulf, which prompted U.S. strikes on Iranian sites, which prompted Iranian attacks on American military installations in neighboring Gulf states. You know, normal stuff that happens when a ceasefire is working great. No new attacks were reported Friday, but tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed considerably because, shockingly, ship captains are not thrilled about sailing through an active shooting gallery.
The U.S. and Iran had reached an interim deal last month to pause a four month war that has killed thousands and choked global energy supplies. Under that arrangement, the U.S. ended its naval blockade of Iranian ports while Iran agreed to ensure safe passage for commercial vessels. That deal is now hanging by a thread so thin you would need an electron microscope to see it.
Qatari negotiators were meeting with officials in Iran on Friday to try to cool things down, according to Reuters. Oil prices eased slightly but remained on pace for weekly gains of 5 percent, because nothing calms energy markets like explosions near the waterway that handles about one fifth of global oil supplies.
Before this week's fireworks, daily tanker traffic had climbed to about 40 ships through the strait, which sounds decent until you learn the prewar average was 125 to 140 daily sailings. So we are running at roughly 30 percent capacity through one of the most important chokepoints in global commerce. Cool.
All of this is unfolding as Iran buried slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the country's holiest shrine in Mashhad. Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on February 28, the first day of the war. His son Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the same strike, has still not appeared in public. His whereabouts remain a complete mystery, which is a fairly significant detail when your country is navigating one of the most unstable moments in its 47 year history.
Trump's inability to fully wrap up this conflict is reportedly a source of frustration heading into midterm elections, with gas prices and voter anger looming large. The White House strategy appears to be keeping the diplomatic door open while making absolutely sure everyone knows the previous agreement is in the garbage. Iran wants to talk. America will listen. But nobody is pretending those tanker attacks did not happen.
So to summarize the current state of U.S. Iran relations: the ceasefire is dead, talks are alive, ships are scared, oil is expensive, and everyone is just vibing.
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