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Vance said they gave their last best final offer, which seems incredibly unlikely.

Iran said they had no plans for another round of talks, but also said, quote, diplomacy never comes to an end, which is a little more accurate.

No matter what the administration says, Trump knows he'll be talking to Iran again and that eventually he'll have to provide a better offer because they're not in a hurry to make concessions.

Aaron David Miller is a former State Department Middle East negotiator, and his assessment of the situation is one that Trump isn't going to want to admit.

He said, quote, He also said, quote,

They've demonstrated a terrifying capacity to undermine security and stability.

All of these things represent cards.

Okay, somebody call Zielinski and let him know the next hand is going to be one to watch.

We've covered all of these elements individually.

The uranium, the mastery of geography, control of the strait, the lack of regime change, and Iran demonstrating a much wider capacity than US estimates suggested.

The problem for Trump is that there's a big difference between me saying it in a foreign policy explainer and it becoming common knowledge and part of the news cycle.

Trump can't claim victory, obliteration, annihilation, and so on if Iran is not just sending the Trump administration packing without even a token agreement.

But they also seem to be primarily concerned with protecting the gains they obtained during the war.

Gains.

Iran advanced their state policy and interests.

The U.S.

didn't achieve any of their stated policy aims.

In fact, it looks like China is even going to be upgrading Iran's air defenses.

In response to another defeat, Trump has decided to blockade the Strait.

I know, you're saying that can't be right, because Iran is already blockading the Strait.