Depending on which day it is, the ongoing peace talks between the United States and Iran are either a few days away from being finalised or close to hitting another roadblock. The status of the negotiations fluctuate about as much as Donald Trump’s mood swings. For those on the outside looking in, the whole storyline can be discombobulating. It doesn’t help that U.S. and Iran are still taking pop-shots at each other. Early on Thursday morning, Tehran attacked a US base in response to a fresh round of U.S. strikes on an Iranian base in Bandar Abbas.
Fortunately, the shooting is not killing the diplomacy—at least not yet. There does appear to be a general framework on the table. According to reports, Iran and the US are zeroing in on a deal that would pause the war for another 30 to 60 days, re-open the Strait of Hormuz, lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and bring both countries into more detailed negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme. But even this simple framework is more complicated than meets the eye. Washington and Tehran don’t necessarily have a common definition of what it means to end the war and what any truce should cover.
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