What separates the United States and Iran remains unresolved and it was not in a two-hour meeting that everything was resolved. Between explosions and aggressive communications, the war continues
The president of the United States announced with great certainty that he would enter a decisive meeting in his “situation room”, the crisis room where almost all major military decisions are made, promising a final decision on the war in Iran for this Friday.
A “final determination”, to be more literal with the announcement made by Donald Trump, who ended a publication on the social network in which a series of conditions imposed by the White House were listed.
It turns out that this meeting ended without any decision, something that already seemed possible as soon as Iran reacted to Donald Trump’s message, but which ended up being confirmed about two hours after publication.
We are closer to peace, perhaps, but we are not there yet, as there are irritants between the parties that have not yet been overcome, with some doubts remaining in the United States regarding what to do with the Iranian funds that are frozen.
This is one of the four key points that are still not fully understood:
- the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz;
- the delivery of enriched uranium from Iran;
- release of frozen Iranian assets;
- total end to Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to The New York Times, whether or not to unfreeze these funds is one of the Trump administration’s biggest questions. On the contrary, on the other side there seems to be little doubt. In such a quick reaction to the publication made in Truth Social, Iran soon clarified that there was a lack of a concrete promise from the United States that these billions frozen in foreign banks could return to the hands of the ayatollah regime.
In practice, what is on the table is summarized by a phrase said by a Trump administration official: “no dust, no dollars”.
This “dust”, it is worth mentioning, is a clear reference to what the President of the United States has dubbed “nuclear dust”, which refers to Iran’s intention to continue having enriched uranium, a key step in the search for a nuclear weapon.
Dollars, of course, are the money that Iran continues to have frozen. We don’t know exactly how much and where all this money is, but Donald Trump has already tried to keep things clean: “We have control over the money they say is theirs. We will continue to have control over that money. When they behave appropriately and do the right thing, we will let them have their money. For now, we will not do that.”
These are words spoken just this Wednesday, and which confirmed that the financial issue has become for Iran what the nuclear issue is for the United States.
According to the Tasnim agency, Iran intends to unlock at least 12 billion dollars of a 24 billion dollar package that is frozen. Qatar, where some of these funds are located, has been a relevant partner in the negotiations, but the final decision always belongs to the United States and, more precisely, Donald Trump.
If there were doubts regarding the money issue, the United States Treasury Secretary tried to dispel them after the meeting. Scott Bessent began by announcing the seizure of US$1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iran, and then warned that any return of funds, if any, would be done very slowly.
And if Iran talks about money, dollars, Donald Trump talks about what interests him most, the bomb, the so-called “dust”, and other types of dollars.
Through the publication made minutes before the decisive meeting that decided nothing, the president of the United States made it clear that “Iran must agree never to have a nuclear weapon or bomb”.
In parallel to this, the Strait of Hormuz “must be opened immediately, without tolls, without restrictions on maritime traffic, in both directions”. Donald Trump even said that anyone trapped in the area could start preparing to “go home”. “Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, family and relatives for me, your favorite president,” he wrote.
That hello may now have to be postponed.
And then Donald Trump returned to “nuclear dust,” suggesting that all of Iran’s enriched uranium will have to be destroyed, which could even happen in collaboration with China and the International Energy Agency. Until then, “no money will be exchanged”, he guaranteed.
Lies and truths
As has been the case since the fragile ceasefire has been in force, nothing that happens, whether on the ground or in diplomacy, is as each side says.
It was no surprise, therefore, that Iran promptly criticized Donald Trump’s statement, speaking of “truths”, but also “lies”.
A mix of both things, according to an Iranian source who spoke to the Fars agency to react to the publication by the president of the United States, which, in Iran’s view, distorted the key elements of the principle of agreement that even Tehran admitted to exist, but only at a political level.
In the Islamic Republic’s view, the problem lies in Donald Trump’s “fundamentally unfounded” statements, namely those referring to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz without any tolls. Iran understands that in that area, where around a fifth of the world’s oil passes, only two countries should be sent: Iran and Oman.
“No Western party, when talking about the Islamic Republic of Iran, should use the term ‘must’”, said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who assured that the country only makes its decisions based on the interests of its people.
Apart from this, Iran made it known that the continuation of the war in Lebanon is another major obstacle to any peace process, which puts the United States in a more delicate situation, since this is an exclusive war for Israel, which shows signs of anything but wanting to slow down the offensive against Hezbollah.
