The Islamabad talks were doomed from the outset

Several factors doomed US-Iranian negotiations in Islamabad to end the Iran war from the outset. Even so, the failure did not immediately spell doomsday, that is until US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, his first response to the failure, announcing that the United States and other unidentified countries would blockade the strategic Strait of Hormuz. “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz. At some point, we will reach an “ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO IN, ALL BEING ALLOWED TO GO OUT…. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” Mr. Trump said in one of two postings. “At an appropriate moment, we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!” Mr. Trump added. In many ways, Mr. Trump’s escalation of the Iran conflict may have been inevitable, given that breaking the stalemate in Islamabad would have required fundamental changes in the US and Iranian approaches to negotiations.