The setback to the peace process came even as Trump is being pilloried by critics at home – including Republican lawmakers and conservative podcasters, not to speak of Israel and its supporters – for the 14-point US-Iran MoU that is being dubbed a “surrender document.”
TOI correspondent from Washington:The Trump White House on Friday postponed vice-president JD Vance’s planned visit to Switzerland to formally sign the MoU and initiate talks with an Iranian team after Israel and Hezbollah continued their firefight in southern Lebanon, illustrating once again that peace in the middle-east may well be a messy mirage. Vance, who has put his own political future on the line as President Trump’s wingman for the controversial deal, has long been on stand-by to fly out for a formal signing ceremony and an initial round of talks. Apparently, he will remain on stand-by after Israel defied Trump’s message — encouraging everyone in the Middle East region “to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold,” — and responded to what it termed as Hezbollah provocations. On Friday morning, hours after the Vance trip was lanced, the two sides agreed to renewed ceasefire.The setback to the peace process came even as Trump is being pilloried by critics at home – including Republican lawmakers and conservative podcasters, not to speak of Israel and its supporters – for the 14-point US-Iran MoU that is being dubbed a “surrender document.” The preliminary deal, remotely signed by Trump at Versailles after attending the G7 summit, was intended to launch a 60-day sprint toward a comprehensive peace. Instead, it has triggered a domestic political firestorm. While the Trump administration insists the MoU is a masterstroke far superior to Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), policy wonks are contesting the claim, asserting that while Obama’s deal was a heavily detailed, multi-hundred-page technical binder, Trump’s sketchy one and half page version essentially gives away the store to Tehran in exchange for a handshake. Capitol Hill lawmakers –including many staunch Republican loyalists who usually treat Trump’s words as gospel — are starting to revolt. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is among those who broke ranks in a scathing critique, calling the deal the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades.” Late-night comedians and social media trolls are having a field day comparing the deal to “winning the war and losing the receipt.” While much of the mockery is partisan, the more serious problem for the White House is that criticism is no longer confined to Democrats.Trump himself has compounded the awkward optics with a series of statements that have horrified pro-Israel elements in US., including backing Iran’s right to retain “some” ballistic missile capability and downplaying the importance of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. The US President is also implicitly acknowledging Iran’s right to have a civilian nuclear program – a departure from his earlier pledge that the US “will not allow any enrichment of uranium” – while remaining firm that it will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. A harried Trump rejected the notion on Friday morning that he had folded before Iran and would hand them a financial windfall, asserting, “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”Meanwhile, the postponement of Vance’s Swiss trip has upended the regional pecking order of mediators, with Pakistan, which had positioned itself as the primary diplomatic broker and proudly hosted face-to-face talks in April, suddenly finding itself left in the lurch. Officials in Islamabad were eagerly hoping to play the ultimate geopolitical bridesmaid, walking the US. and Iran down the aisle to secure a massive international victory. Instead, Qatar’s sudden emergence as the preferred, deep-pocketed mediator has left Pakistan standing awkwardly, resembling a wedding guest who has discovered the ceremony has moved to another venue.The deal’s real casualty, however, is the internal peace of the MAGA coalition itself. In a fiery press briefing, Vance took off the diplomatic gloves and lashed out directly at Jerusalem, telling Israeli officials they need to “wake up and smell the reality of the situation,” while bluntly reminding the Israeli cabinet that two-thirds of their defensive weapons are paid for by American taxpayers. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have left anywhere in the entire world,” he snapped. The public smackdown highlights a sudden collapse in ties between the MAGA White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Staring down an upcoming election, the Israeli PM has refused to pull IDF troops out of southern Lebanon, effectively repudiating Trump’s ceasefire. This unprecedented rift leaves US-Israel relations in unchartered, hostile territory. Go to Source
