Blazingcatfur

Iran has ostensibly agreed to a two-week ceasefire — which, intentionally or not, it broke within minutes — and to negotiations. At first glance, an agreement may seem a meaningful step. With the Islamic Republic of Iran, however, a ceasefire does not necessarily indicate a genuine shift in intent. As US President Donald J. Trump and his negotiators undoubtedly know, it more likely functions as a tactical pause to relieve pressure, rebuild capabilities, and buy time under the cover of diplomacy.

Negotiators from the United States and Iran are set to meet in Islamabad this weekend for talks aimed at turning their current ceasefire into a durable peace.

The truce, announced Tuesday, has been shaky. Israel launched an aerial barrage against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains snarled. But after nearly six weeks of war, both Washington and Tehran appear motivated to end the conflict, raising hopes that the talks Saturday, to be led by Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, might produce a deal.

In just six weeks, the Iran War has shattered a system of global trade that has enriched people and nations for more than a century: the freedom to sail the open seas.

The Strait of Hormuz long functioned as an artery for the world’s maritime economy. But that 30-mile-wide waterway is now a monument to a new global disorder. As some 20,000 sailors effectively held hostage at sea digested President Trump’s cease-fire announcement this week—contingent on the complete opening of the strait—Iranian officials stressed they would determine which ships could leave and at what price.

The “Tehran toll booth” was taking effect, as the U.S. Navy watched on, an admission that, at least here and now in the world’s oil corridor, America no longer rules the waves.

Imagine that! The WSJ is so obsessed with money it publishes absolute rot.