Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz: ‘According to a senior Arab source who was quoted in this column on Sunday, mediation talks between the sides have been held from the beginning of the war, involving Turkey, Oman, Qatar and Iraq. On Sunday, the source told Haaretz that the aim is to reach a multilateral cease-fire within days, during and after which direct talks between Iranian and U.S. representatives would take place.’

And: ‘It's important to note that Trump, in his verbosity, talked about Iranian consent to forgo nuclear weapons, but Iran has never claimed that it was striving to develop such weapons.’

And: ‘The Revolutionary Guards and their subordinate apparatuses have, in their assessment, succeeded in establishing a balance of deterrence against the world's most powerful nation and the strongest state in the Middle East.’

In other words, Iran may win or has already won. Trump will declare victory and move on.

(a sf 2088)