“All my experience with Iran, which is quite extensive, is that they are inveterate liars in their negotiating technique,” former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told me this week. “They believe in tiring out their opponents with endless procrastination and obfuscation. And they’re not sincere. So, I think it is no surprise that it is proving very difficult to get a deal. I understand President Trump’s frustration.”
Less than a month after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum intended to stop the fighting and create 60 days for negotiations, military exchanges have resumed, the Strait of Hormuz is again heavily restricted, and President Donald Trump has declared the interim ceasefire over. The June 17 memorandum signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian now seems very distant. The document was meant to reopen commercial passage through the strait while talks addressed Iran’s nuclear program and other unresolved disputes. Instead, its vague language produced competing interpretations.
