With the White House press secretary on maternity leave, the last couple of press conferences have been hosted by secretary of state Rubio and the latest by US vice president, both contenders as Trump’s successor—the president being coy about whom he’ll endorse or anoint—and Vance addressed journalists about the state of the war, reiterating that Tehran’s relinquishment of its atomic ambitions is the core condition of negotiations to achieve a lasting peace—with all other details up for debate. 
Certainly if Iran was not already seeking to establish a nuclear deterrent, the joint US-Israeli war of aggression persuaded them such counter-measures are worth pursuing, the vice president saying that any leniency would set off a regional arms race and that the US is ready to restart its military campaign should further talks fail with a weekend deadline to come to terms. Supposedly deferring to other gulf states in waivering the resumption of strikes increasing looks like an offramp as the conflict approaches its third month. NATO command says that a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz would be a political decision on the part of alliance members follow a meeting of G7 finance ministers urging action. Putin meets with Xi in a mirror image of Trump’s visit.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to enjoy (with synchronopticรฆ)
twelve years ago: honey-traps plus quantitative easing
thirteen years ago: preparing for a return trip to Switzerland plus top toponymy
fourteen years ago: castle ruins as a conference venue plus shadow social networks
fifteen years ago: German jobs report
