Washington Says It's Talking to Iran -- But Who on the Other End Can Actually Sign?
Jared Kushner says US conversations with 'various parts of the Iranian government' are more robust than ever -- and that phrasing is the whole story. It suggests Washington isn't negotiating with a government so much as with fragments of one, at a moment when Iran's Supreme Leader has been missing since a March 30 airstrike and the country's most powerful military force is publicly denying any talks are happening at all.
Bottom Line
Kushner's claim of robust talks is less significant than what it accidentally reveals: the US is negotiating with pieces of Iran, not Iran itself. With the Supreme Leader missing, the IRGC denying the talks exist, and a collapsed ceasefire already draining trust in US-brokered deals, the obstacle isn't reaching an understanding -- it's finding anyone in Tehran with the authority to keep one.