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The art of no deal: Why the US-Iran stalemate may be structural

Both sides say they want an agreement, and neither is creating the conditions for one

    • US President Donald Trump has oscillated between declaring total victory and threatening to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”.
    • US President Donald Trump has oscillated between declaring total victory and threatening to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”. PHOTO: EPA
    Published Mon, Apr 27, 2026 · 06:30 PM

    NEARLY two months have passed since US and Israeli strikes shook Teheran and killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

    The war that was supposed to end in decisive victory has instead settled into a grinding diplomatic stalemate, one that exposes the fundamental contradictions on both sides.

    The first round of talks in Islamabad on Apr 11 ended without a breakthrough.

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