DUBAI: U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprising claim this week that talks with Iran were yielding great progress has only raised more confusion over a war whose goals were already unclear. The most basic question: What talks?A 15-point plan from the Trump administration offering a potential pathway to an exit was offered late Tuesday to Iran through Pakistan, according to a person briefed on the contours of the plan but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Iran has so far denied any negotiations were taking place, pledging to fight “until complete victory.” Pakistan, Egypt and Gulf Arab nations are trying behind the scenes to piece together talks, but their efforts still seem preliminary. Israel is vowing to keep up its attacks.
If anything, the war appears to only be escalating. Barrages were fired into Iran, Israel and across the Mideast on Tuesday. Meanwhile, thousands more U.S. Marines were on their way to the Gulf, and the Army was preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days.
Here is a look at what’s known and not known about possible talks to wind down the war.Push for negotiationsSince launching the war alongside Israel on Feb. 28, Trump has given shifting and often vague objectives, and those mixed messages were on display in recent days. He has talked of degrading or destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, and its ability to threaten neighbors – goals that he has some flexibility in declaring accomplished. A much tougher goal is ensuring Iran can never build a nuclear weapon, and Trump has insisted that will be part of any deal.
A reopening of the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for oil shipments that Iran made virtually impassable when the war began – is now also a priority, for Trump and the global economy.
