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Posted on 03/24/2026 9:09:18 PM PDT by lasereye
But what it is, is entirely unclear. President Trump has announced a breakthrough in negotiations with Iran:
President Trump said Iran has agreed to his biggest demand in order to stop the war: no nuclear weapons.Are we talking to the right people? Are we sure we know who the right people are? Are we really talking to anyone, or is Trump just trolling to sow confusion in the enemy’s ranks? Assuming talks are really taking place, is Trump negotiating from a position of strength, having devastated Iran’s military? Or has the magnitude and persistence of Iran’s response surprised and dismayed Trump and his advisers, so that Trump is desperately looking for a way out?“They’ve agreed,” he said. “They will never have a nuclear weapon. They’ve agreed to that.”
Tehran has not stated that publicly — and denied even talking to the US. But Trump has made clear that the no-nukes demand is necessary for the US to stop its military campaign. *** “We’re actually talking to the right people and they want to make a deal so badly, you have no idea how badly they want to make a deal,” the president said.
I have absolutely no idea.
Meanwhile, aerial attacks are continuing, although at a reduced pace. And the 82nd Airborne is on its way to the Middle East.
The Jerusalem Post says Israelis are skeptical of progress in peace negotiations:
The chances of an agreement between the United States and Iran are “very small,” Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.So military preparations are continuing, especially with regard to Kharg Island:The gap stems not only from US demands – including restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz – but also from Iranian demands.
“At the moment, the Iranians are insisting on American compensation, as well as guarantees from the administration that there will be no further action against Iran as part of any agreement,” two sources involved in mediation efforts told the Post.
The additional forces include US Marines intended to enable a potential takeover of Iran’s Kharg oil island in the Strait of Hormuz.Trump has not yet decided whether to launch a ground operation to seize the island, which could help ensure freedom of navigation. The decision depends in part on ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
On Sunday, the Post reported that senior American officials told Israeli counterparts that “there will probably be no choice but to carry out a ground operation on Kharg Island.”
The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, carrying about 2,500 Marines, are expected to arrive in the region this weekend as part of the first Marine reinforcement in the Middle East.
Other forces are on the way as well.
I would hate to see the conflict end without the replacement of the Islamic Republic by a modern state, but that probably won’t happen without a real ground war, which is out of the question. So perhaps President Trump’s best option is to declare victory–it will be many years before the IRGC, now the effective rulers of Iran, can rebuild its missile and nuclear capabilities, or free up substantial resources to support terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas–and go home.
But Trump doesn’t seem inclined to take the easy way out; nor, on the other hand, will he do what would be needed to score a decisive victory. The middle path, if he takes it, could be the most perilous, and might even turn into the fiasco that Democrats are hoping for.
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Maybe I'm off base and the way things have gone so far is pretty much what they expected. While I hope that's true, it doesn't look like it to me. For example, it sure looks like they didn't anticipate that Iran would be able to close the strait. I assume they thought their military would be too degraded and disorganized to do that. If that is what happened, did they have bad intelligence? Or was it largely delusional wishful thinking?
What it is
ain’t exactly clear
Their Muslims, the Koran says they can lie to non Muslims. Don’t believe them, President Trump
I go with Trump’s assessment unless he is proven wrong.
One certainly cant trust what muslims say unless they are proven right.
Thats just my take. None of us really know whats going on.
They’re.
For what it’s worth, I hope Trump can negotiate peace with Iran.
Trump is exposing the fact that there is no leadership in Iran. So he can say anything, and all they can do is say, “not so”....but they cannot produce a leader on the world stage....as we keep bombing and going after known leaders, and militant enforcers, their disarray becomes all too obvious. Perfect time to start negotiating with a recognized shadow government(Pahlavi?).....after IRGC, regular army, and Basij disappear this can be done.
Iran is being reduced a loosely constituted Shia terrorist group. If we get their nuclear material, we can let Israel make more nukes, and we could use it for nuclear reactors, and make more bombs ourselves...now that would be quite a reversal.
No, I think he’s sowing discord between various elements in the Iranian regime. This would make them second guess each other, trying to figure out who’s loyal and who “sold out” to the Americans.
CC
So what happens when the IRGC kills whoever the President got an agreement with?
Whoever says Iran is making peace is lying.
By saying they are having negotiations with the US, is Trump creating distrust within the Iran factions hoping for a war within?
I find it hard to believe Trump and the Pentagon would simply push all their chips in on a low-probability "regime collapse," and have no plan or expectation if it did not occur
I would imagine they have other, unknown factions in Iran who they are hoping will take over. At the same time, it seems they know the Iran regime is very weak, and nearly leaderless.
And even if a collapse and replacement does not occur, a closed and risky Strait of Hormuz does not hurt the USA anywhere near as much as it does the EU and China. As such, Trump's actions may be a way to pressure them to help push for regime-change in Iran also.
Trump loves creating optionality for himself out of nothing or seemingly impossible situations. Certainly, Iran is not just about Iran. Its about A LOT of other things, and other countries, as well.
he knows that it's only Hormuz that keeps them alive...
The media shouldn't put out all their brainstorms...like they know what's going on behind closed doors.
No, he knew from the outset that there would have to be a ground war. We know that because he told the Iranians 2 things: 1. Take note of who your enemies are so you can bring them to justice afterwards. 2. I’m giving you a once-in-a-million chance to take your country back. We’ll help you but you have to do it yourself. Be ready.
This author thinks a ground war is out of the question. It’s not. In fact, it’s been the plan from the very beginning. But it’s not to be US troops waging that ground war. It’s the 95% of Iranians who want this regime gone who will be fighting the 300,000 (at the beginning of operations; don’t know how many now) IRGC Basij Unit members who are the thugs in charge of controlling the people. It will be gun v gun street fighting, done by the Iranian people and the Eternal Guard - an exiled group of elite fighters who have come back into the country with arms and training for the people. They’ve started operations in the Iranian boonies - attacking Basij members in their homes at night. The idea is that they will work their way to Tehran. When the US & Israeli bombs stop the Eternal Guard has asked that the US provide air cover for them as they do the urban warfare. I can’t help but wonder if that’s what our elite forces are there to do, and when the ground operations will start.
From the very beginning we’ve told the Iranian civilians to stay away from IRGC and military targets, and to stay home where they are safe because they will be told when it’s time to come out for the final battle. The Centcom commander just reiterated the other day that it’s not time to come out yet. Some Israeli military guy estimated it would be a couple weeks before the stage was fully set for the final street battles. The IDF is taking out as many Basij members as possible. They can’t set up checkpoints because they get blown up if they do, so they’re going from house to house now.
I’m wondering if Elon Musk can get Starlink devices distributed en masse to the people. Mossad has a way set up for regular people to give locations of Basij folks for Israeli drones to take out. But I think it relies on internet, and only Starlink works. The more Basij folks can be taken out in advance, the better.
The regular military of Iran also has weapons and a bunch of them have been defecting, posting videos saying that when the final battle comes they will fight for the people. There are a lot of those guys, and if they lend their aid & arms it greatly changes the equation. Mahyar Tousi believes they will support the people. I pray so.
I think they knew the Strait would be closed and thought that it would serve as a uniting factor for the rest of the world - perhaps even China. The whole world has needed a wake-up call as to how much damage Iran is capable of doing to them, and how they are total nutcases who want to take the whole world down with them. I think what’s surprised Trump is the unwillingness of Europe to protect their own interests.
That’s the result of them being overrun by Islamists in their own backyards - which is the direct result of their elections being stolen by the communist-Islamist cabal that includes Iran (and Venezuela, Cuba, China, Russia, & Serbia). That same cabal has been stealing US elections for the last 20 years. See https://rumble.com/embed/v6zv0pq/ We have the testimony of the actual whistleblowing engineers who’ve done the election thefts in the US & 72 other nations. The communists & Islamists are doing in Europe what they’ve done in the US as well: taking over the people who live here and making them slaves to the Muslim & communist invaders. They do that by using cartel money to buy off officials and “elect” people who do their bidding and betray the national interests.
Notice that the countries Trump has been taking on first were - in this order - China (tariffs), Venezuela (Alien Enemies Act, deportations to El Salvador, capture of Maduro, etc), Iran, and (coming next) Cuba. That’s the cabal, right there, with the exception of
1. Serbia (that will be dealt with directly when the prosecutions start in the US, starting with Dominion’s Eric Coomer who told an Antifa zoom group that he had made sure Trump wouldn’t win 2020 and has finally admitted in court that the server in Serbia had access to the systems in the US; Venezuelan engineers who did the thefts told how it was done; the fake “results” were created in Serbia and uploaded to the US systems via Huawei servers there that were installed by John Brennan’s peeps. Scuttlebutt is that Tina Peters in CO saved the data which shows the insertion point where this fake database was uploaded to steal the election, and that’s why they went after her so hard) and
2. Russia, which I think Trump may be soft on because Putin has already said to the whole world that there is a cabal (this same cabal, with John Brennan and the corrupt USAID being HUGE parts of it) that is doing corrupt, bad stuff all over the world (including laundering money through Ukraine and - they say - using gain-of-function labs in Ukraine to develop bioweapons akin to Covid-19 which was used to steal 2020 in the US). So Russia may end up being part of the solution by the time it’s all done. We’ll see.
Maybe that is the “gift” Trump was talking about.
Of course they knew that Iran could close the strait anytime they wanted to. That's where Iran concentrated the majority of their Anti-ship capability.
I believe the war is going about how it was expected, although not as quickly as everyone hoped.
Only Trump and Co. know who they are talking to, or even if they are talking to anyone in the Regime. Note that the bombing continues.
I think Trump said it wasn’t about nukes but was about oil and gas.
Heh, heh. Trump practicing taqiyya?
I smelled a whiff of Buffalo Springfield in that title.
President Trump has only one goal and that is the well-being of the United States. If that requires him to do and command others to do perpetual manipulation of the stock market and oil market he’ll do it. Even if it’s illegal he’ll do it.
If that’s what it takes to accomplish his goal of the well-being of the United States, the fact that it’s manipulating a market means nothing.
It has been truly astonishing that the market has reacted upward each and every time there has been a claim out of the administration of substantial progress with Iran. 48 hours later Iran announces that there are no negotiations and that its all media crap and the markets nevertheless react, probably out of desperation.
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