TakingStock

How was that race called in the same night? This is Wisconsin after all. I’m shocked.

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"‘Massive attack coming … wait, never mind, they want to negotiate.’ That’s theater diplomacy on loop,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, wrote in a post on X on Thursday in an apparent jibe at Trump.

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Now Ghalibaf is dunking on Trump. It’s just pathetic at this point.

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The U.S. and Iran could reach a deal on Tuesday or Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with freedom of movement for commercial ships, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview. “We are in talks with the Iranians,” Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”

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All of this talk has to be market manipulation. Lots of “chances”, “maybes”, “potential deals”.

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The "negotiations" that are not really happening is their *last* chance for real this time. That is until next Sunday when they "beg" us not to do it and/or "At the Request of" some muzzie scum occurs.

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:rotflmao: This is insane. It's clear that Trump is either outright lying or just making stuff up via Truth trying to sow confusion and division within Iran or back the Iranians into a position but that type of nonsense is clearly not very effective with them. Sadly, this cycle of "Iran bad" to "Iran is begging for a deal" could continue indefinitely as this rate.

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Everything Trump has said in the last 3 days in regards to Iran is total BS IMO. There are no diplomatic talks occurring between us and anyone in Iran. If anything, it's just Kushner and Witkoff talking to Qatar and that is it.

The only thing that is happening is the markets are being manipulated by Trump. Can't do this shite forever however, eventually he is going to have to find his balls, let them drop and take down the IRGC and the IR. It's the only way any of the "goals" get accomplished.

Until that happens, our enemies will continue to think we are weak and lack resolve. Our allies will question our abilities to protect them if need be, and ponder is it really worth being allied with us. The USA's reputation as a world power is taking a hit right now because our leader/leaders lack the huevos to take the unpleasant, but necessary steps to get this done.

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The repeat timing of these type of announcements is so suspect as you've pointed out. No serious person can trust anything about this entire process.

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BREAKING: Iran directly rejects Trump's new claim Iran agreed to end its nuclear program and open the Strait of Hormuz as a "complete lie," saying it is a "desperate attempt to manipulate the market," per Iranian military officials to Mehr News. Iran adds that it has not requested any halt to the planned attacks, and that it was purely Trump who chose to stop them with false claims of a deal.

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In normal times I’d say this is very much Iranian propaganda but sadly I believe this is more likely to be the case than not.

I think it’s very clear now, between Trump’s post about Iran and basically any other issue, that he will just lie or make up anything to attempt to back the other party into a corner. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t a random business deal where that tactic is likely to work and Iran is way too savvy of an adversary to fall for that nonsense.

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Iran doesn’t care because Trump is desperate to bail out of this and is absolutely scared shitless.

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Bingo. It’s hard to believe given how the early days looked but Iran will actually come out of this ordeal stronger than before. They will very likely keep their nuclear program intact, receive additional substantial support from an equally emboldened China, exert leverage over Hormuz, and will also likely collect tolls for vessels transiting the Strait.

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Aaaaaannnd Qatar strikes again.

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:rotflmao: And there it is! "Regional partners", "the Emir of Qatar" and "The highly respected Field Marshal of Pakistan" for the trifecta! Iran has to be laughing at how easy it is to play Trump like a fiddle with this charade.

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We start some heavy strikes across Iran. Maybe knock out a couple of power plants but not target any of the IRGC leadership. Probably knock the power out in Tehran or parts of the surrounding area... When it looks like we are going to drop the hammer, at the 11th hour, Qatar, or a combination of Qatar/Pakistan/Turkey manage to get us to stop and try talks again for the umpteenth time.

Kushner and Witkoff fly their corrupt, little gremlin asses back over to Qatar to get their marching orders from the Emir to keep their money flow secure and delay the destruction of the Islamic Republic via "talks". Trump tells the press we are going to make them pay the next time, if they don't honor their end of the MOU.

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Bingo. We may bomb a bit more than usual but then the dogs will be called off and Trump will put out a message saying that due to messages from "regional partners" or "the respected Field Marshal of Pakistan" or "the Emir of Qatar", it makes sense to give peace a chance because Iran promises their serious this time and want "to make a deal". The same old song and dance we've heard and will continue to hear. It really is ridiculous.

Rinse and repeat as needed for next few weeks/months.

The CENTCOM X account is starting to sound like Baghdad Bob is behind it. How was bombing a coastal site of two a “powerful response” to Iran’s surprise ballistic missile launch?