US joined talks with Iran as Trump needed exit from disaster he created: Journalist

By Alireza Kamandi

Washington’s sudden push for a ceasefire and negotiations with Iran was not a sign of goodwill but a desperate admission of strategic failure after failing to achieve any of its war objectives, says a journalist.

In an interview with the Press TV website, Joe Lauria, the US-based editor-in-chief of Consortium News and author, said US President Donald Trump realized he made a miscalculation.

“Trump realized he made a big mistake listening to (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu and ignoring his top advisors when he launched this war, and it has become obvious to him that the U.S. is losing the war’’, said the author of Political Odyssey.

“The US failed to secure its four primary goals: overthrowing the Iranian government, seizing stored enriched uranium, destroying Iran’s enrichment program, and eliminating its ballistic missiles and drones. None of those objectives has been achieved.”

Referring to the 40-day war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Lauria said the costs have mounted dramatically for the US after its infrastructure was bombed in Iranian retaliation.

“US bases across the region have been damaged or destroyed. Washington’s Persian Gulf Arab allies have been attacked for hosting those offensive bases. Israel has been hit significantly in retaliation,” he told the Press TV website.

“The US international reputation has suffered further blows, while Iran has been strengthened through its control of the Strait of Hormuz.”

The US-based journalist and analyst said that despite his “bluster and bravado” claiming victory in the unprovoked war against Iran, the US president knows he “needed an exit from the disaster he created.”

However, he hastened to add that Trump could not give the necessary concessions to the Iranian side, so the talks in Islamabad ended with no agreement early on Sunday.

When asked whether the negotiating table is merely a tactic for the US plotting new moves, Lauria recalled that Washington twice used negotiations as a cover for sneak attacks against Iran.

“This time, I think Trump really wanted a way out but could not face the humiliation required to pull out, so he pulled (Vice President JD) Vance and his team out of the talks,” Lauria noted.

He said Washington did not have many cards to begin with, going into Islamabad and now it looks like “the only one left to play is total war.”

Regarding Vance leading the American delegation, the American journalist said it may have been because the Iranians refused to deal with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

“To give the US side a little more of a serious look by sending the vice president. And because Vance was said to have been against the war, he may have been more flexible. In the end, it didn’t matter.”

Asked whether the U.S. aggression has weakened the American imperial image, he said there is no doubt that it has, in particular with US allies in the Persian Gulf and in Europe.

“The big question is whether the US will learn a lesson from this or not,” he remarked.

On whether the Israeli regime would allow any potential Iran-US agreement to be sustainable, the answer was unequivocal.

“No, Netanyahu would do whatever he could to sabotage any deal, had one emerged.”

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir