Hmmm: IRGC Submits New Proposal After Trump Warns ‘Clock Is Ticking’

Did Ahmad Vahidi take Donald Trump literally as well as seriously? The IRGC chief hasn’t done much of either during the past several weeks of “ceasefire,” as Trump kept warning that his patience wouldn’t last forever. Trump made the same warning again yesterday on Truth Social, and a new offer from the Iranian regime may be the result. 

This time, Trump put the warning in all caps:

Again, Vahidi has heard this threat for the past several weeks without any consequences. What made this potentially different? It turns out that Trump had a lot more to communicate on his social media platform after that. The sheer amplification and repetition may have caught Vahidi’s attention:

If Vahidi missed last night’s Truth Social thread, perhaps he heard what Barak Ravid reported at Axios. Ravid spoke to Trump, who reiterated the “clock is ticking” message, while two other sources gave some idea when the alarm would go off:

U.S. officials say Trump wants a deal to end the war, but Iran’s rejection of many of his demands and refusal to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program has put the military option back on the table.

Trump is expected to convene his top national security team in the Situation Room on Tuesday to discuss military options, two U.S. officials said.

Trump spoke Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in Iran.

Behind the scenes: Trump met Saturday with members of his national security team at his Virginia golf club to discuss Iran, a source with knowledge said.

Attendees included Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Not to belabor this point, but we have seen those signals in the past few weeks before. Trump has not escalated matters despite the threat, but the Iranians may have given him no choice. A drone attack targeted a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, starting a fire and perhaps forcing Trump to act:

A drone strike sparked a fire on the edge of the United Arab Emirates’ sole nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an “unprovoked terrorist attack.” No one was blamed, but it highlighted the risk of renewed war as the United States and Iran signaled they were ready to fight again.

There were no reported injuries or radiological release. The UAE, which has hosted air defenses and personnel from Israel, recently accused Iran of launching drone and missile attacks. Tensions have risen over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy waterway gripped by Iran, which is under a U.S. naval blockade.

This may have precipitated Trump’s social-media posts and the throat-clearing about a Situation Room meeting tomorrow morning. The Iranian regime transmitted a new proposal for a settlement to Pakistan immediately after their drone attack, which suggests that the strike on the nuclear power plant may have been Vahidi’s attempt to reverse the leverage issue posed by the blockade rather than a response to Trump’s warning:

Pakistan has shared with the U.S. a revised proposal from Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East, a Pakistani source told Reuters on ‌Monday, as peace talks appeared to remain stalled.

“We don’t have much time,” the source said, when asked if it would take time to close gaps, adding that both countries “keep changing their goalposts”.

That’s certainly true of the Iranian regime, which won’t honor the one agreement its negotiators made with the US in Islamabad. The US imposed the naval blockade of Iran when the IRGC reneged on the ‘ceasefire’ agreement and denounced its own negotiating team. The IRGC has attacked commercial shipping in international waters ever since, and now has struck a US ally with an unprovoked drone attack while supposedly observing a pause in hostilities. 

That’s also curious. Both the UAE and the US have been reluctant to blame Iran for the attack, but there’s literally no other hostile force that would attack the UAE, especially targeting a nuclear reactor. There are only two reasons to refrain from accusing Iran. One: A deal is close. Two: There is no deal and the US and Israel are coordinating a response. The latter is likely why Iran coughed up a new proposal – to push Trump off from an immediate and devastating response in retaliation by attempting to drag out negotiations. Again. 

Will it work? It shouldn’t, but then again, that’s been true for the last three weeks or so. The IRGC is playing the usual game that the regime has used to duck consequences by attempting to tire out the Western powers with inscrutable and circular talks. Trump should put an end to that cycle as soon as possible and signal to the Iranian people that there will be no deals cut with Vahidi and his military junta. The time for real change is now.

Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all. 

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