Strikes hit Iran while Tehran targets Israel and Gulf states amid mixed signals over talks to end war - PBS

The Take

Jordan Calloway · Government Secrets & FOIA

# The Take Let's cut through the theater. Both Tehran and Tel Aviv are performing escalation for domestic audiences while Washington pretends diplomacy is possible. The "mixed signals" framing is lazy—there are no mixed signals, just competing lies. Iran's ballistic missile tests aren't about negotiating; they're about saving face after Israeli strikes degraded their air defense. Netanyahu's cabinet won't accept meaningful ceasefire terms because the war serves his political survival. Trump's public tough talk masks zero leverage—he's already signaled he'll greenlight whatever Israel wants. The FOIA requests I've filed on direct U.S. coordination with Israeli targeting reveal Washington's hands are far dirtier than the diplomatic statements suggest. State Department cables show we're not mediating; we're managing optics while the killing continues. The "talks" are kabuki. Real negotiations require someone willing to actually concede. Nobody at these tables is. Watch what gets declassified in five years, not what gets said now. That's where the actual policy lives.