With tentative Iran deal, Trump secures breakthroughs that he already had
After far too many instances in which the White House told the world that an agreement with Iran was imminent, only to see those hopes dashed soon after, there actually appears to be something resembling a deal to end the monthslong conflict. MS NOW reported:
Iran and the United States reached a deal Sunday aimed at ending the Middle East war, according to President Donald Trump and Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, marking a major breakthrough after months of conflict and on-again, off-again negotiations.
The statements from Trump and Tehran raised hopes for an end to fighting that has left more than 7,500 dead, most of them in Lebanon and Iran, and rocked the global oil market.
In an item published to his social media platform, the American president boasted, “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!”
Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration has been willing to share any of the details surrounding this apparent breakthrough, which makes it effectively impossible to evaluate it on the merits. That said, a few things stand out.
Trump’s many unmet goals: On Feb. 28, when Trump announced the start of the U.S. offensive in a prerecorded video filmed at his glorified country club in Florida, the president didn’t explain why he’d decided to launch the war, but he did present the public with five objectives.
The Republican’s goals were relatively straightforward: (1) destroy Iran’s missiles and missile industry; (2) annihilate the Iranian navy; (3) sever the ties between Tehran and its proxies in the Middle East; (4) prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon; and (5) create the conditions necessary for regime change. More than three months later, Iran’s navy has certainly been decimated, but the other four objectives have plainly not been met.
Similarly, in May, the American president said he wanted Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and a “perfect” agreement, and as the war nears an apparent end, he’s achieved neither.
It’s not entirely clear if Trump understands his own deal: On Sunday afternoon, at 5:29 p.m. ET, the president wrote online, “I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz.” Just 58 minutes later, he added that the Strait of Hormuz would open “on Friday.”
Around the same time, he spoke to The New York Times at some length about the deal, though the newspaper’s coverage noted that he “seemed to be describing Iranian concessions that the country has not yet made.”
It’s something to keep in mind in the coming days: Trump, who has long struggled to familiarize himself with policy details, might say all sorts of things about the burgeoning agreement, but it’d be a mistake to accept his descriptions and assessments at face value.
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Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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