Insiders fear Trump war 'back at square one' amid renewed threats: analyst

Government insiders privately fear President Donald Trump's Iran war has regressed, with nothing of value being gained by the United States, CNN's Kristen Holmes told anchor Brianna Keilar on Tuesday.

Keilar opened by noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged there was "no finality" on a deal to free passage in the Strait of Hormuz, where blockades are wreaking havoc with the world's energy markets.

Trump and Bessent, said Holmes, teased "that there would likely be a deal as early as today," but whether that materializes is unclear. "As you noted, we have Iran on the other side of this, threatening that U.S. naval blockade, saying they're going to attack the U.S. Navy."

That matters, she continued, because "within these conversations with U.S. officials that I'm having, and that are happening privately, they do believe that the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is one of their most powerful assets. So they're going to be not inclined to remove the blockade until they have a full commitment from Iran in order to reopen the Strait and actually have this free passageway through here."

The problem, Holmes added, is that "what they're talking about is a very short stopgap. They're looking for something that is just over a short amount of time to get these partners or parties back to the negotiating table. Right now, there are no direct talks between the United States and Iran, and mediators behind the scenes are working to try to get those talks started again."

"It really does feel, from talking to U.S. officials, that we are back at square one in terms of talking about ... the memorandum of understanding and its core tenets, even if they aren't actually talking about the piece of paper they signed," she said.

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