diplomacy, the orange style;

 

 Donald Trump threatened to “take over” Iran if they try to close the Strait of Hormuz again during a turbulent weekend for diplomacy as negotiators met in Switzerland to begin a period of high-stakes talks to end the war.

The US president said he had warned Iranian officials directly that “you close [the strait] and you won’t have a country”, Fox News’s Trey Yingst reported on Sunday, as Iran again restricted maritime traffic in response to Israel’s clashes with Hezbollah.

“You won’t even make it back to your f***** country,” the president said he told the Iranians, adding: “We’ll take over the rest of the country.”

High stakes talks aimed at finalising a deal to end the war are expected to continue through the week, after a “difficult” start that saw Iranian negotiators walk out over Trump’s “insults”.

The first round of talks nonetheless concluded early on Monday morning, with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi praising Pakistan and Qatar for their mediation and saying they “delivered major progress”.

And despite the public bluster, JD Vance told reporters that Trump had “asked us to turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran”.............more...........