And here’s the answer: Does it matter?
As of this morning, the White House continues to insist that the ceasefire with Iran remains in place and that negotiations will continue. At the same time, missile launches and drone attacks keep coming from Iran, including the skirmish yesterday in which the US Navy struck ports in the Strait of Hormuz and sank several fast-attack boats harassing shipping.
Donald Trump hailed the US Navy’s response yesterday on Truth Social, while calling Iranian leaders “lunatics.” He still urged the crazies to take the offer Trump sent this week:
Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers. They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave! A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question — But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST! Our three Destroyers, with their wonderful Crews, will now rejoin our Naval Blockade, which is truly a “Wall of Steel.” President DONALD J. TRUMP
Well, they certainly don’t make ceasefires like they used to. Back in my day, sonny, a ceasefire meant fire actually ceased, and these truces ended when one side took the first shot, not the 150th. An announcement about how many enemy craft went to the bottom of the sea after a naval engagement is a battle report, not an update on a ceasefire. Nor is this an unusual development in the world of diplomacy. Both Lebanon and Gaza have had numerous “ceasefires” where Hezbollah and especially Hamas and its allies repeatedly fired rockets and missiles into Israel. Every single time, the global media and no small number of nations that should know better referred to these attacks as “testing the ceasefire,” rather than the obvious conclusion that it didn’t exist.
Note too the common denominator in all of these instances: Iran and the IRGC. For some reason, everyone seems very inclined to invest in “ceasefires” with Iran and its proxies, in which Iran and its proxies continue to shoot at people.
So what’s going on? Fox News reports this morning that the White House is assessing whether our partners in the negotiations are the people responsible for shooting at us, or whether they’re just impotent to stop it:
BLURRED BATTLEFIELD: The ceasefire with Iran is still holding for now, even as U.S. forces take fire. Officials believe a blurred battlefield of different Iranian factions is responsible, rather than the negotiators themselves, @pdoocy reports:
“They’re trying to figure out if… pic.twitter.com/jTtA3nkkXZ
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 8, 2026
“They’re trying to figure out if the people they are negotiating with from Iran are the same people shooting at them, because there are multiple different factions causing problems for White House officials during this process.”
“If they can determine that the people they are making peace arrangements with are the same people who are shooting at them, then the ceasefire is off. But for now, it seems like the understanding is, there are just a lot of people in Iran who have different agendas, anti-American agendas, and one of those groups are the ones shooting at the U.S.”
And again I ask: Does it matter? Let’s look at the three scenarios this raises and the conclusions to which they inevitably lead:
- The negotiators take part in attacks – That means Ahmad Vahidi and the negotiators are working in concert and will never negotiate in good faith. It’s useless to continue talks under these circumstances unless and until they comply with the terms of the original ceasefire. And even then, the lack of good faith requires harsh measures until they do.
- The negotiators are not part of the faction(s) attacking the US and allies – In this case, the negotiators are completely impotent and the talks are worthless. Even if they are operating in good faith, they can’t deliver on any agreement they make with the US. Until the actual leadership of Iran enters into good-faith negotiations, the ceasefire is a mirage and a stall tactic, and the US needs to reimpose reality and a time crisis on the IRGC.
- There is no real leadership, and the attacks are coming from disparate groups – That’s the nightmare scenario that arises when leadership gets decapitated. However, that is perhaps the best opportunity to force a collapse. Just as in the other two scenarios, negotiations are meaningless because the negotiators can’t deliver on any agreement. This is the time to cut these rogue factions off from any industrial or communications infrastructure. The longer they operate alone, the more cohesion will erode, and eventually that opens the opportunity for a popular revolt to put a final end to the IRGC’s military junta.
In the end, what really matters is that the Iranians keep taking perfidious actions under the cover of a ceasefire agreement. That really should suffice to convince Trump and the Pakistanis that there is no point in talking to Abbas Araghchi or any of the other negotiators, who either can’t deliver or gave us another performance of the Tehran Two-Step. This isn’t really that deep of a question in the end.
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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