As U.S. Pauses Strikes, Iran Is No Rush to Resume Cease-Fire Talks

Iran’s skies have been free of the sound of explosions and airstrikes for the past several days, after a bout of renewed fighting with the United States. But Iranian officials say they have not agreed to a cease-fire and are in no hurry to hold direct talks with American negotiators.

Instead, Iranian officials insist that they are in a position of strength, military leaders boast of battlefield successes, and diplomats dismiss U.S. claims that they are eager to return to negotiations.

The rhetoric coming from Iran indicates that its leaders are comfortable with the state of limbo with the United States — something between peace and full-fledged war — believing that they can handle renewed conflict and that they have leverage over President Trump. The priority for Iran seems to be gaining recognition of its control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, a concession that the United States has been unwilling to make.

Despite the bluster, the uncertainty is a challenge for Iran, analysts say. Fighting could break out again at any time, a final settlement appears distant and Iran’s economy is almost certain to deteriorate further because of instability, wartime destruction and a U.S. naval blockade.

Ramazan Sharif, a former spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the ideological military force that has solidified its control over Iran during the war, said on Sunday that Iran’s “enemy” had “faced strategic defeat at every step,” Iranian state media reported.

Iranian diplomats have reacted with more restraint to the pause in the fighting over the past few days, after two weeks of trading attacks. But there is little hint that they are in a mood for compromise.

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