Mediators scramble to avert US-Iran fighting after Trump's midterm restraint fades
You're reading an excerpt from Al-Monitor Washington, where we break down the latest in US-Middle East diplomacy. To read the full newsletter, sign up here . WASHINGTON — Regional mediators are mounting a last-ditch effort to head off another round of fighting between Iran and the United States after next week’s midterm elections ease President Donald Trump’s political constraints to escalate the war. In a bid to revive talks, Qatari mediators on Sunday delivered a letter from Vice President JD Vance to Iranian Security Council chief Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, calling for a resumption of negotiations between the two sides.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
Al-Monitor describes the war only as fighting "between Iran and the United States" and never says that the US and Israel launched it with strikes in February, or that Israel is a party the mediation must also end. A reader could take it as a two-sided US-Iran clash of unclear origin. The outlet's own earlier article and other coverage of the same mediation say so plainly.
How we know
- Al-Monitor wrote earlier“to end the war with the US and Israel”Qatari mediators present Iran with new deal to end the war, official says (opens in a new tab)
- The Jerusalem Post reported“the war that the US and Israel launched in February”Qatari mediators present peace deal to Iran in mediation effort, official says (opens in a new tab)
- Anadolu Agency (English) reported“The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb.”Qatari mediators return to Tehran in renewed push for US-Iran deal (opens in a new tab)
Vance led a US delegation in marathon, face-to-face negotiations with Iranian officials in Islamabad in April. More recent discussions involving US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held on the sidelines of last month’s United Nations summit in New York, were conducted indirectly through Qatari mediators.
Read the original article on al-monitor.com (opens in a new tab)