A New Ceasefire?

According to US Donald Trump the current attack on Iran’s power plants is on hold for five days because of what he calls successful talks as we learn from a report from Israel Hayom:

President Donald Trump spoke with reporters on Monday and revealed details of an emerging deal with Iran, despite Tehran's denial of any negotiations with the Americans. Responding to reporters' questions, Trump said Iran had agreed to give up its nuclear weapons and to halt uranium enrichment on its soil. Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, he said the shipping lane would be managed "by mutual agreement, of both sides."

Trump disputed an Iranian official who said in his X account that no talks are underway:

Trump addressed the Iranian Foreign Ministry's claims that no negotiations were underway, saying, "They're going to need to get better PR people. We've had strong talks, we'll see where they lead – there are a lot of points of agreement, on almost all of them. Maybe it didn't get through. The media got blown to pieces. There were strong talks. Witkoff and Kushner spoke with them, and it went perfectly. If they keep going like that, it will end this problem, this conflict, and I think it will end in a significant way."

The US President assured us that the Iranian threat was very tangible:

On Iran's nuclear weapons, Trump said, "I think it was a real threat. If we hadn't bombed them with the B-2 [the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber], they would have acquired nuclear weapons within two weeks to a month. They would have used them immediately upon getting them. They still haven't managed to extract the enriched uranium, but if we hadn't hit them and used the B-2, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks of the attack. They'd use it on Israel and the entire Middle East."

The bombing will start up again if the talks fall apart:

"Our partners in the Middle East – we have excellent relations with all of them. Many of them were attacked by surprise. So the discussions took place Sunday evening. They very much want to make a deal. We want one too. We'll get together today by phone, and at some point soon we'll meet in person. We're giving it a five-day window and we'll see how it goes. If it goes well, we'll wrap it up. Otherwise, we'll keep bombing," he said.

When asked who Trump is talking with he said this:

"We're talking to someone senior. We bombed the first, second, and maybe third tier of leadership. But we're dealing with a person who I think is the most respected man – the leader. Not the supreme leader. Nobody's heard of the son. Every now and then you see a statement, but we don't know if he's even alive. But the people who seem to be running the country – things that were said happened. I don't want them killed. Nobody wants that job right now – to be the head of that particular country – but maybe we can solve this problem," Trump said.

Trump went on to say that Israel knows about the talks and will be pleased with the deal and confirmed that Iran wanted the deal not the other way around. He then said this:

So they called. They want to make a deal. They're ready to make a deal. It has to be a good deal – no wars and no nuclear weapons. Anything like that is not a deal."

Not Everyone Agrees

One former US General, Jack Keane thinks any deal by Iran will be a mistake, though as we learn from an interview with Fox News. When asked about the negotiations he doubts anyone they talked with is any different than the previous hardliners. He then noted that any deal would be broken:

Listen, what we have seen in negotiations in the past is Iranians are willing to promise something and then cheat, cheat, cheat and lie. That is one of the reasons why we're in this in the first place, aren't we? Because we came to the realization there is no really dealing with this regime. We have to take away their capabilities to attack us and do harm in the region. That's what this whole campaign is about.

Keane then said that any deal to share the Strait of Hormuz is a bad idea:

We are well on our way to achieving all that, Bill, to absolutely include plans to open up the Strait of Hormuz. There is no doubt we'll open up the Strait of Hormuz because we'll take control of it and be able to hold onto that reality over time. What we can't do is through negotiations open up the Strait of Hormuz and enter into a deal with the Iranians. Yeah, they'll back off and end hostilities prematurely, and what happens as a result of that? They have capability to attack us, even though that was our goal. Two, they can blackmail and use the Strait of Hormuz as hostage in the future.

Keane does trust Trump to do the right thing, though. He then talked about the five day delay:

If we are talking to this regime and some member in it who maybe is willing to undermine the rest of the regime and make a deal with us about what I would refer to as more terms of surrender, that is attractive. But if this is just another diplomatic effort for us to stop hostilities before we achieve our military objectives, that doesn't make any sense and I don't see our president doing that. (The delay) is predicated on the fact there is some kind of negotiations taking place. I never thought the power plant deal would stop their behavior that much because the Mossad has blown up power plants in the past through the years.

The former US General did mention something that would work:

If we are trying to do something to gain some leverage over the regime in addition to the military capabilities we are displaying, I would tie up all of the Iranian export shipping that is coming through the straits and deal with the countries it is going to: China, Russia, Pakistan, and India. I have no choice but to stop this, and in other words, you are shutting down the Iranian trafficking through the Strait and putting pressure on Iran to open the whole Strait of Hormuz as a result of it. That's more attractive than dealing with power plants.

Keane thinks that we should keep hitting Iran and achieve our goals like is happening right now. He adds that his won’t got much longer:

I will leave it to the plans that are already in place here. I just know this, Bill. Our military objectives, we're achieving them, knocking them down one at a time, and the Israelis are as well. We're in a very good place to achieve all of those objectives over time. Listen, no one is thinking this would likely go beyond 60 days.

I might add that in Bible prophecy Iran along with Turkey and Russia will still come against Israel who will think they are living in peace and safety. How this plays into that I’m not totally certain, but a weak Iran would make sense since they put a hook in the jaw of Russia to get them involved. We could be seeing the war of Gog and Magog fall into place right before our eyes.