by Martin Jay, Strategic Culture:

The failed talks between the U.S. and Iran surprised no one. But what is surprising is how there seems to be no safety catch on Trump’s foreign policy. Except Lebanon.

What did we just witness when the talks between the U.S. and Iran failed? For many, the whole show was as surreal as it was disingenuous. Were the Americans ever serious? Or was it a case that they were simply delusional from the start about their position in the talks? J.D. Vance’s statement to the cameras afterwards had a tone of delusional idiocy, with references to Iran not “accepting our terms”. How is it that the entire world — even America — can see that Iran is the dominant one and the U.S. the weaker party that needed the ceasefire more? Only Trump’s cabal of underqualified so-called negotiators kept the dream alive that the U.S. has the upper hand.