“Negotiations.” Are you heartened or dismayed by that word? Those who remember or who have read up on the seemingly interminable Paris Peace Talks designed to bring an end to the Vietnam War have reason to be dubious. A negotiation, if it is to be successful, requires that both sides be candid and in earnest. The Vietnamese were not candid participants. They stalled. They prevaricated. They acted out.

It seems that the Iranians are hoping to reprise that melodrama. They will be profoundly disappointed. On the second weekend in April, Vice President J.D. Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met some 70 Iranian representatives in Islamabad to hammer out a peace deal. After a marathon 21-hour session, Vance emerged and told the press that, despite their best efforts, no deal was reached.

‘Iran played its biggest card and the main result is that the United States became the world’s emergency gas station and China’s cheap energy subsidy evaporated.’

‘Iran played its biggest card and the main result is that the United States became the world’s emergency gas station and China’s cheap energy subsidy evaporated.’

A spokesman for the Iranians suggested that negotiations would continue. “Diplomacy never ends,” he said. Vance begged to differ. The Americans had made their “best and final offer.” The Iranians refused to give up their nuclear ambitions. That was non-negotiable. “The simple fact is,” Vance said after the talks ended, “we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear........

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