US-Iran 'Peace Talks' Resume Amidst Escalating Joint Aggression
Negotiating teams from the United States and Iran are reportedly due back in Islamabad this week, according to four sources cited by Al-Monitor on Tuesday. This return comes days after what were described as the highest-level talks between the two nations since 1979 concluded without any significant breakthrough. Al-Monitor, like much of mainstream media, frames these as bilateral 'peace talks',
implying a genuine effort towards de-escalation. This narrative conveniently omits the simultaneous, undeniable escalation of military and economic warfare against Iran, in which the United States is undeniably a direct participant and joint aggressor alongside Israel. The idea of 'peace talks' while US B-52 bombers stage provocative flights near Iranian airspace or while new layers of sanctions
are continually rolled out, is not merely contradictory, but actively misleading. What the Al-Monitor piece leaves out, and what decades of history instruct, is that these 'talks' frequently run parallel to, or even mask, sustained campaigns of coercion. Consider the consistent pattern of US aggression, such as the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988 by the USS Vincennes, killing 290 civilians,
including 66 children. That incident, declared a 'proper defensive action' by the Pentagon despite occurring over Iranian territorial waters, speaks volumes about the actual 'peacemaking' posture Washington often adopts. The current diplomatic exchanges are taking place against a backdrop of Israel’s continued military operations against Iranian interests and allied movements like Hezbollah, often