Iran is reviewing US-backed proposals on the fate of its nuclear program, as the top American commander in charge of combat operations oddly launched a podcast on Thursday making jokes about eating French fries and retiring to play basketball.
asserted
commander → review → basketball
A US official told The Post that Qatari officials have been mediating fresh discussions with Tehran about its nuclear program.
asserted
officials → tell → program
At least three meetings on “concrete proposals” have occurred in the past week, The New York Times first reported, with summits in Tehran and Doha.
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Times → occur → Tehran
Trump remained coy about his intentions, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to.
asserted
I → remain → country
You’ll know soon enough.”
asserted
You → know → ?
It’s unclear what details the documents may contain.
uncertain
documents → ’ → details
Reuters reported later Thursday that Iran returned a copy of one nuclear proposal to the US via Qatari mediators.
asserted
Iran → report → mediators
The news emerged as Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, launched the new podcast “Inside CENTCOM” on YouTube featuring light-hearted banter — as Cooper’s head is on the chopping block following Republican midterm election losses driven by the war.
asserted
head → emerge → war
“I never met a French fry I didn’t like, and thus the need to exercise frequently to balance that out,” Cooper confessed — as opponents and proponents of the war alike point to him as a possible fall guy for the longer-than-expected conflict, with focus also on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
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opponents → meet → Hegseth
One source close to the White House blasted Cooper as “awful” and a “total neocon.”
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source → blast → Cooper
A Pentagon source conversely pointed to his past working under first lady Michelle Obama and then-second lady Jill Biden as executive director of the “Joining Forces” military family support program.
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source → point → program
“This explains why the war in Iran has been prosecuted like Obama would have prosecuted [it],” the second source said.
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source → explain → it
“It is nuts and explains why it’s gone so badly.
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it → explain → ?
Obama would do these pinprick strikes and Cooper essentially did the same thing early on.”
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Cooper → do → thing
The blame game within the administration has focused mostly on Hegseth, who advocated for launching the war and ultimately oversaw its conduct.
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who → focus → conduct
A different administration source told The Post that President Trump, who has been asking allies what to do about the secretary of war, has “gone negative” on Hegseth, saying he overpromised a quick victory, which the president initially told journalists would wrap up in “four weeks or so.”
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president → tell → weeks
Hegseth’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, said Wednesday that he intended to remain through the end of Trump’s term, ruling out an obvious off-ramp taking an appointment to fill the Senate seat of Tennessee Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn.
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he → say → Blackburn
If he stays, Hegseth is likely to be impeached by the Democrat-controlled House and put on trial by the Democrat-led Senate for conducting the conflict without congressional authorization.
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Hegseth → stay → authorization
Hegseth, whose Biden-holdover chief of staff Ricky Buria has stoked constant in-fighting within the administration, defended himself in a video posted to X Thursday, saying: “They attack me, they attack us, because we are effective.
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we → stoke → us
It’s not going to work.
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It → go → ?
We will not back down.”
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We → back → ?
In a further twist sinking Hegseth’s standing within the administration, two social media influencers who worked for the Pentagon earlier this year tweetedWednesday that Hegseth should run for president in 2028 — against Vice President JD Vance.
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Hegseth → sink → Vance
Both influencers are no longer working for the Pentagon, a defense official said, with one leaving in July and the other in October.
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one → work → October
The Pentagon and CENTCOM press offices did not immediately comment on the in-fighting.
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offices → comment → fighting
A possible new peace agreement with Iran would build on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Trump and Vance in June.
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agreement → build → June
That deal collapsed over disagreements on shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.
asserted
deal → collapse → Hormuz
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, one of the country’s leading negotiators, claimed on X Thursday that Trump “is prepping the next war phase while America teeters on an Israel-First cliff,” despite talks being underway.
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talks → lead → cliff
Vance has been a key figure in restarting talks with Iranian officials ahead of the 2026 midterms, even as Trump, suggested — until recently — that US war against the mullahs could escalate following Election Day.
uncertain
war → restart → Day
The vice president, who blamed the war for Republican election defeats, penned a letter to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei in late October — with Trump’s blessing — in an effort to resume talks.
“The president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement,” Vance said Monday, referencing both “kinetic” and “non-kinetic” options.
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Vance → blame → options
The same day, Trump also batted down the prospect of renewing strikes in the aftermath of the midterm elections.
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Trump → bat → elections
Several times the president has suggested Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified facility near the Natanz nuclear facility, as a possible target.
uncertain
president → suggest → target
Trump has also demanded that Iran can’t achieve a nuclear weapon and must dispose of any “nuclear dust” remaining in its stockpiles.
asserted
Iran → demand → stockpiles
Meanwhile, Iranian leaders like Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued jeering statements following the elections, with the in-hiding theocrat gloating: “The process of the US’s collapse has accelerated.”
asserted
process → issue → collapse
US Central Command hasn’t telegraphed any immediate signs that a return to full-scale attacks on Iran are in the works.
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return → telegraph → works
Reps for the White House and Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
asserted
Reps → respond → comment
The Aporia
