From Vladivostok to Oman
The year was 1974. Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev was sick and practically in need of a "taxidermy consult" - which is needed when every other medical consult has failed to alleviate something as severe as a series of strokes. But the Soviets have certainly never been stupid when it comes to negotiating their position. President Ford was... errr... incompetent. So at Vladivostok, we ended up choking on SALT II. It was a troublesome agreement which left the United States with deterrence strategically weakened.
The Soviets - growling about our enhanced capabilities for our ICBM with MIRV (multiple independent re-entry vehicles) which made us capable of taking ten magic carpet rides with nuclear payloads on a single ICBM missile, scared the piss out of them.
Who needs trigonometry when you can work with basic math? The Soviets did the math. A glad-clapping agreement was attained with the U.S. agreeing to place a limit on launchers. Have all the missiles you want! Build that stockpile! You can't eat steak if you ain't got no teeth! This whole thing was smoke and mirrors. The Joint Chiefs agreed to sign off on it - with a nod toward future funding of bombers and the Trident submarine. We would effectively launch from the canopy and from the depths of the sea. We can accomplish it now. But our options were more limited in the prior century.
Principle conceptual arch? The world is not a safer place with a weakened United States. The question is whether a strengthened Iranian state can be trusted with the nuclear goody bag.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/7/iran-says-oman-mediated-talks-with-us-a-good-start
President Donald J Trump did a rather expensive fist pump by sending the USS Abraham Lincoln in a surging maneuver toward Iran. For this - we received a handshake from the Iranian delegation who claim they look forward to meeting us again. Of course, this is quick sand progress and not real progress.
Iran manages to spit out a new missile with regularity and christen them with fond names which reflect Islamic history. The uranium enrichment and forward movement to join the nuclear community will not be shut down because Iran is powerful enough to resist our threats and overtures. Divine writ also comes into play. While we still have angst over lands stolen from the native American population, the Muslim believes the whole pie belongs to Allah. This belief is so strong, that the wealth-cleansing tax does not only apply to "manifest goods" (what springs from the soil, and resources such as water) the tax also applies to what are the "hidden goods" of Allah: that which is harvested from deep within the earth - rare earth elements, copper, and...
But you really have to dig deep into the terrain of the mind of the Shi'a to understand what is in the marrow. "The affairs of the believers are to be settled by means of consultation." 42:38 This ayat is a reference to social matters. The Imamate? It is a Divine covenant and not subject to man's volition or opinion. Occultation will be involved in deciding the outcome of talks with the Western powers. And there might even be a "manifestation". But what passes between the delegation and the Grand Ayatollah Ali will be hidden. That object - will be "god". And from God's mouth to Grand Ayatollah Khamenei's ear, the issue will be decided.
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq had this to say when questioned regarding his ability to see what was hidden in the heavens: "Yes, the Prophet saw those dimensions and so does your Imam."
Our insurmountable hurdle is that we do not have the expertise within the IB (Intellectual Battlespace) to be granted an audience directly with Al-Muzzammil - the one enshrouded in garments similar to those of Prophet Muhammad. Do not misconstrue shaking hands with a delegation with shaking the hand of a Grand Ayatollah. We don't speak his language. He doesn't care about ours. And he will be unyielding regarding enrichment of uranium and a nuclear program.
We continue to apply sanctions. Each time we do, black markets receive a boost and everything which is under the table is harder to track.
We lack Nahj-al-Balagha, a form of Arabic linguistic eloquence, a distinct rhetoric which is attributed to Imam Ali. Witkoff and Kushner don't grasp it. But an Arabic linguist and historian/ethnographer might. We continue with our unusual neurosis regarding Edward Belcher. A peacock claims to be king. We conveniently forget that for the ancient Persians, a peacock tongue was a delicacy reserved for banquets. All they see is feathers.
Entering the IB - we imagine a madman at the helm of a Republic. But the Grand Ayatollah is a seasoned jurist, a world leader, and cagey political animal, all under the same turban. His influence as a spiritual leader spans the globe. And there is ample experience within the bones.
We are stuck at Vladivostock-in-Oman. What are the innovative workarounds available to us which will be palatable to both sides? I dunno. We continue to gum the issue. Tehran has a full set of teeth.
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