Deal tenterhooks over Iran war

Not for the first time and probably not for the last time there is heightened talk of a possible imminent deal to end the war in Iran. It could all come to nothing like so often before but, despite all the fiery words from the regime in Tehran I cannot believe the relatively new and almost invisible supreme leader really wants his country to be subjected to another round of massive bombing by the US and Israel. The leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps go on about taking revenge in a way the world has not yet seen. But this is just words. Whatever is claimed, the previous round of bombing did huge damage to the IRGC's military machine, and a second phase will destroy whatever is left. So, this weekend, aware that Donald Trump has been talking with his Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about the options for launchig more attacks, Tehran seems to be wavering. Talks between the Iranian parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the canny Pakistan chief of staff of the army Field Marshal Syed Munir, in Tehran have obviously ended with some sort of formula. There is renewed talk of a memorandum of understanding, the phrase used by Trump when he set down 30 wish-list objectives, the most important of which is the reopening of free passage for all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. If Tehran agrees to stop interfering in the strait that will be a huge plus for Trump, even though the strait was open before he launched attacks on Iran on February 28. The nuclear issue may well be ppstponed for a later date. This is not such a big plus for Trump because his principal mantra is that Iran cannot ever have a nuclear weapon. Let's see how close the Iranian memorandum of understanding is to Trump's memorandum of understanding. I guess there will be significant differences, but maybe, just maybe, the wording will be less abrasive and more amenable to Trump's demands.