3 Things Trump Needs to Do to End the Iran War
Ex-US intel analyst, and new Zeteo contributor, Harrison Mann on how the president could earn his way back to the table after killing everyone in Iran who’s tried to negotiate with him.
A note from our Editor-in-Chief:
I am delighted to re-introduce Harrison Mann to Zeteo. A former Middle East analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and a former US Army major, he has written for Zeteo before but now, thanks to your support and paid subscriptions, he’s officially a Zeteo contributor. As the US gets closer to a ground war in Iran, Harrison will be bringing his expertise and experiences to Zeteo readers. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please become one today to avoid the paywall and to support independent journalism in a time of war.
-Mehdi
This week, President Donald Trump launched a one-man diplomacy blitz to end his war with Iran – maybe literally “one-man,” because it’s unclear if Trump was negotiating with anyone but himself.
On Monday morning, just two days after he threatened to bomb Iranian power plants – a likely war crime – Trump posted about “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES,” between unnamed American and Iranian negotiators. On Tuesday, he both tacked on the puzzling claim that Iran had given him a “very big present,” and reportedly sent Iran a 15-point ceasefire plan similar to US demands already rejected before the war.
Pakistani intermediaries confirmed they had delivered Trump’s messages to Tehran. Iranian officials denied talks had taken place – and made their own demands.
Whether or not Tehran has opened Trump’s DMs, the sad truth is that Trump’s own actions have made negotiating a peace nearly impossible in the immediate term. The good news is there’s still a lot he can do to speed up the end of his war. But let's start with what he can't do:
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