... President Trump is turning back to diplomacy in the Middle East, seeking a new deal with Iran that his administration failed to secure through waves of military strikes.
But the negotiations, which the president claimed would resume Monday, got off to a rocky start, with Iran denying any resumption in talks with the U.S., while pursuing a bilateral deal with Oman over shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Diplomatic efforts have failed before, leading to a recurring pattern of the U.S. threatening massive kinetic action before it is called off, a scenario that has played out at least five times since April.
Gregory Brew, an Iran expert with the Eurasia Group, said the U.S. is both part and "outside" of the Oman-Iran talks, as Tehran doesn't recognize any U.S. role in managing the waterway, though the strait's reopening will depend on Washington ending its naval blockade.
"The Iranians have made it very clear they're not going to reopen the strait unless the U.S. de-escalates, unless the U.S. drops its blockade and likely provides other concessions," Brew said in an interview with The Hill on Monday.
Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Iran seems to be eyeing a deal with Oman that has the backing of other Gulf countries, which it would then use to pressure the U.S. to lift its naval blockade.
"Iran could present it not just to the Omanis and the other immediate neighbors but to the world as the only hurdle now to free and open shipping of the Strait of Hormuz is the U.S. naval blockade," Campbell said.
"In any agreement that it would reach, I think both from a sort of geopolitical outmaneuvering standpoint, and also just from a lack of trust in Trump, Iran sees little need right now to engage in talks with the U.S. despite Trump's persistent insistence that this is the case." ...
