By R. Cort Kirkwood (The New American)
President Trump announced this morning that the U.S. Navy will block the Strait of Hormuz because peace talks between Iran and a team of American negotiators led by Vice President J.D. Vance have failed.
After almost a full day of discussion, Vance told the media yesterday, his team left Iran without an agreement that would end the U.S.-Israeli war against the country.
Iran refused to bow to the “core” U.S. demand that it not build a nuclear weapon or attempt to attain the capability to build one.
So this morning, Trump said, the Navy will stop ships from passing through the strait, destroy any mines Iran has deployed, then “finish up the little that is left of Iran.”
Vance and his team included Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They landed in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday after Israel attempted to torpedo the two-week ceasefire in the war by attacking Lebanon. Israel hopes to conquer Lebanese territory up to the Litani River.
The talks came days after The New York Times revealed that Trump fell for a pack of preposterous claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a briefing in the White House situation room. The Times revealed that Trump ordered the attack on Iran against Vance’s firm advice.
“In front of his colleagues, Mr. Vance warned Mr. Trump that a war against Iran could cause regional chaos and untold numbers of casualties. It could also break apart Mr. Trump’s political coalition and would be seen as a betrayal by many voters who had bought into the promise of no new wars,” the Times revealed:.
Mr. Vance raised other concerns, too. As vice president, he was aware of the scope of America’s munitions problem. A war against a regime with enormous will for survival could leave the United States in a far worse position to fight conflicts for some years.
After nearly 24 hours of talks with the Iranians, Vance said, they refused to forswear nuclear weapons.
Substantive Discussions
“We’ve been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians,” Vance said at a news conference before leaving Pakistan.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement.
Vance said his team clarified “red lines” and what the United States would and would not accommodate from Iran. “We’ve made that as clear as we possibly could, and they have chosen not to accept our terms,” Vance said…
Vance said he and his team spoke “consistently” to the president and his national security team, including Secretaries of State and Defense Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, throughout the negotiations.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal,” Vance said, “a method of understanding that is our final and best offer.”
“War with Iran, a war we should not even be fighting, is back on,” former GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X:
Lord have mercy on the innocent.
Read the rest here: Trump: U.S. Will Blockade Strait of Hormuz, Finish Off Iran Because Peace Talks Failed – The New American
