Analysis: A teetering ceasefire bodes ill for treacherous US-Iran talks ahead | CNN Politics

The sad truth is that Middle East ceasefires don’t always stop the shooting. President Donald Trump’s halt to fighting with Iran already fits the pattern. On its first day, it was hard to verify that it existed at all. The US, Israel and Iran could not agree on the terms on which the ceasefire was forged, after a huge Israeli assault in Lebanon led Tehran to claim a violation. Washington and Tehran, meanwhile, offered conflicting accounts of whether the Strait of Hormuz was open or closed. And Gulf states reported one of the most intense Iranian attacks of the war, which set off multiple drone and missile alerts. The tensions did not only destabilize the truce. They highlighted the vast gaps in perception and trust before talks in Pakistan this weekend meant to convert a two-week pause in the fighting to a more permanent deal. Rhetoric and published demands from both the US and Iran indicate that the foes will enter the process demanding almost total capitulation from one another on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and its claimed right to build missiles. Those differences mean that it would be a major achievement if the top US representative, Vice President JD Vance, em