Is peace at hand between the U.S. and Iran, or is talk of an end to the war just more hype and spin? Is the potential agreement, as President Trump insists, a good deal that is much tougher than anything the Obama administration managed to negotiate? Or is it the thinly disguised surrender of a Trump administration desperate to liquidate a war the president now privately feels he should never have launched?
As of Memorial Day, nobody, possibly including both Mr. Trump and Iran’s supreme leader, seems to know. That shouldn’t be surprising. Both the American president and his Iranian opponents believe that the purpose of speech is less to inform than to spin. Add this to the sensitivity and secrecy with which delicate diplomatic negotiations must proceed, and we have a fog of misleading statements, dramatic but disingenuous social-media posts, and intentionally obfuscatory leaks.