Iran Loses Ground: Tehran's Clock Runs Out
So does Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince lobbied President Trump directly against resuming strikes — buying time, not peace.
Iran Loses Ground: Tehran's Clock Runs Out
Representative Jonathan Jackson told Congress on Sunday that Washington's policy toward Haiti, Venezuela, and Cuba is accelerating instability across the Caribbean — but inside the same administration, a harder argument is already winning.
According to Politico Europe, senior White House officials are drawing a line that no Iranian negotiator can easily cross: any resolution that leaves Tehran in effective control of the Strait of Hormuz is, in their reading, no resolution at all. The strait handles roughly a fifth of global oil trade. Iran understands this. So does Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince lobbied President Trump directly against resuming strikes — buying time, not peace.
What emerges from both the New York Times and Politico Europe's reporting is a negotiation running on two tracks simultaneously, and neither track leads cleanly to a deal. Trump has now canceled strikes at least twice, each time citing progress on an outline that his own officials privately describe as unresolved on its most consequential point. Iran, per Politico's sources, reads each cancellation as confirmation that Washington will not follow through — and is adjusting its posture accordingly.
Bond markets are watching the oil price more carefully than the diplomacy. Per Bloomberg, Treasury yields already face upward pressure from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's deliberate silence on rate direction. A Hormuz disruption would add an energy shock to an already unsettled fixed-income picture.
The strait remains open. The talks remain alive. Neither condition is guaranteed by morning.
*— Isla Camilleri, Global Affairs & Lifestyle Editor*
