Iran says that diplomatic efforts have been “active” in recent days, received proposals from several mediators
The good news at least is that there is some form of exchange in order to try and de-escalate, with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Baghaei insisting that a “binary choice of negotiations or war is not useful". He maintains that “diplomacy does not negate defense" and that “defense is not incompatible with diplomacy".
Adding that Iran has received several proposals from mediators for the resumption of negotiations.
As much as the headlines might point to some return to optimism, it is still too early to prejudge anything. As mentioned before, nuclear/uranium negotiations are not going to amount to anything as there are still key red lines that are holding for both sides.
And in the bigger picture, this is exactly what Iran wants. That is to keep playing for time and to drag all of this out over and over and for as long as they can. From before: Iran’s strategy in leveraging on control over the Strait of Hormuz looks to be working
Baghaei goes on to say that US talks might be possible if and only if though they are pursued on the basis of national interests. As much as both sides can talk the talk, I can foresee negotiations breaking down again the minute missile strikes are exchanged once more.
And with Iran not going to relent on giving up control over the Strait of Hormuz, I don’t see how things will be any much different from what they were in the past few weeks.
If anything, it could just be a case of Groundhog Day for markets as we continue to repeatedly take one step back and then one foot forward again.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.