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Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in France on Friday to attend the G7 foreign ministers meeting where he will deliver a clear message on U.S. priorities for the ongoing war with Iran.

In the days leading up to the meeting, other members have taken markedly different approaches to the war. Nearly all of Washington’s partners — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — have reacted cautiously to the U.S.-Israeli military campaign and declined to participate in offensive operations, even as they condemn Iranian actions.

Before departing on Thursday, Rubio signaled a defiant approach to the talks: "I don’t work for France or Germany or Japan… the people I’m interested in making happy are the people of the United States. I work for them," he said in a video posted on X.

The divergence has drawn frustration from President Donald Trump, who has pressed allies to contribute more, particularly in securing key maritime routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. While some countries have signaled a willingness to support defensive or maritime security efforts, they have stopped short of joining direct military strikes.

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"The U.S. is constantly asked to help in wars and we have. But when we had a need, it didn’t get positive responses from NATO. A couple leaders said that Iran was not Europe’s war. Well, Ukraine isn’t our war, yet we’ve contributed more to that fight than anyone," Rubio added.

"The Strait of Hormuz could be open tomorrow if Iran stops threatening global shipping, which is an outrage and a violation of international law. For all these countries that care about international law, they should be doing something about it," he said before boarding his plane to France.

The remarks set the tone for a summit already marked by growing friction between Washington and some of its closest allies over how to handle the Iran conflict. Rubio has framed the stakes in stark terms. "Iran has been at war with the United States for 47 years… Iran has been killing Americans and attacking Americans across this planet," he said during a White House cabinet meeting, adding that allowing Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons would be "an unacceptable risk for the world."

But even before Rubio arrived at the meeting, European officials were signaling a markedly different approach.

"We need to exit from the war, not escalate this further, because the consequences for everybody around the world are quite severe," Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas said during a briefing on the sidelines of the G7 on Thursday.

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"It can only be a diplomatic solution… sit down and negotiate to have a way out," she added.

The contrast between Rubio’s framing and Kallas’s message captures the core tension shaping the meeting.

U.S. officials say Rubio is heading into the talks with a broader agenda that goes beyond Iran.

According to a State Department spokesperson, who spoke to Fox News Digital on background, Rubio will use the meeting to "advance key U.S. interests" and push discussions on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as "international burden sharing" and the overall effectiveness of the G7.

The U.S. is also expected to emphasize maritime security, including freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, while urging allies to take on a greater share of responsibilities in conflict zones and international organizations, the spokesperson said.

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European officials have instead emphasized the broader risks of the conflict.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said discussions at the G7 would build on a recent joint statement condemning Iran’s actions while also addressing maritime security concerns.

He said the "discussions will provide an opportunity to revisit positions already agreed at the G7 level… including the unjustifiable attacks carried out by Iran against Gulf countries… which we condemned in the strongest possible terms."

Barrot added that ministers would also focus on securing global shipping routes.

"We will also have the opportunity to address maritime security and freedom of navigation… including an international mission… to ensure the smooth flow of maritime traffic in a strictly defensive posture, thereby helping to ease pressure on energy prices," he said.

Kallas echoed that global framing. "All the countries in the world are one way or another affected by this war… it is in the interest of everybody that this war stops," she said.

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Her remarks also pointed to the interconnected nature of the crisis. "Russia is helping Iran with intelligence… and also supporting Iran now with drones," she said, linking the Iran conflict to the war in Ukraine.

That uncertainty is already affecting the structure of the summit, with officials dropping plans for a unified final communiqué to avoid exposing divisions, Reuters reported.

Analysts say those differences reflect deeper structural tensions in the alliance. "Europe has criticized Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ strategy towards Iran while pursuing a failed diplomatic approach that has enabled the regime to expand its terrorist networks and edge closer to nuclear threshold status," Barak Seener, senior research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.

"This reflects a lack of European capability to project power in the region, particularly in safeguarding the Strait of Hormuz."

Seener added that years of reliance on Washington have left Europe increasingly exposed as the U.S. shifts its strategic priorities. "Years of underinvestment in defense and reliance on the United States have created a dependency that Washington increasingly views as a betrayal of the peace it has guaranteed Europe since the Second World War," he said.

"With the U.S. placing greater value on its relationship with Israel than NATO, the result may be further erosion of the alliance, reduced support for Ukraine and rising economic pressure on Europe."

He warned that the immediate test will come at the G7 itself. "Divisions over how to respond to Iran and to any U.S. request for support are likely to expose a deeper transatlantic split," Seener said.

"Operation Epic Fury has showcased President Trump’s ability to assemble a coalition of allies to eliminate a common threat — in this case the Iranian regime — and stabilize international trade," Jacob Olidort, chief research officer and director of American security at the America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital.

"The failure of Western Europe to participate in securing the Strait of Hormuz is particularly egregious because those countries depend on it more than we do," he added.

"At the same time, the historic successes of Operation Epic Fury have awakened a new confidence in our Middle East partners to eradicate the threats from the Iranian regime and to work together to shape a more peaceful and prosperous region."

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The United States has allies in this battle with Iran, though you’d be hard-pressed to prove it from coverage in mainstream media. Israel has lost 18 of its citizens, our Gulf allies at least 20. America has seen 13 of its soldiers and airmen killed in the theater. 

When allies fight beside you and absorb the blows that the enemy wishes it could rain down on our country, we in America ought to at least bring their stories forward. Israel especially has been at war with Iran since its proxy Hamas launched the attack on October 7, 2023, with its invasion of Israel and the massacre that followed. Israel is now fighting alongside our forces in the skies above Iran (and perhaps on the ground with Special Forces and secret services!?) as well as waging a fierce battle in southern Lebanon after another Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, renewed its attacks on northern Israel.

Israeli journalists and analysts are many and excellent. On X you can follow former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. @DrMichaelOren, and from the next generation @havivrettiggur, @Nadav_Eyal and @AmitSegal. Amit and Nadav both have free newsletters. Podcaster Dan Senor hosts Nadav and Amit appear weekly on his "Insider" edition of the "Call Me Back" podcast.

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As our ally, Israel has been at war since that massacre of 10/7, and their extraordinary contribution to this battle — which for them has two fronts and incoming missiles many times a day — is hard to describe. But Americans ought to at least be aware of what the war looks like from their point of view (and from that of our Gulf allies though I know next to nothing about which accounts to follow there.)

An ally like Israel is an immeasurable boon. Fox News often has Trey Yingst reporting from there and Lucas Tomlinson roaming around the Gulf. I can’t judge the other networks because I don’t watch them, but the online platforms provide a story or two or three a day, and much of it is outright defeatist or at least demoralizing, even though the dominance of the U.S. and Israeli militaries over the shattered Iranian forces is unquestionable.  

When the war concludes, there will be enough time to review in depth what was not covered or how the deep bias against President Trump and/or Prime Minister Netanyahu in mainstream news organizations impacted war coverage, but denying that bias is like denying that a war is going on. 

Right now, however, the American and Israeli militaries are methodically smashing the military the Iranian radical regime has built up over 47 years. If it was a boxing match, the referee would stop the fight. But it’s war and the target list is long.

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U.S. Central Command and the Israeli Defense Forces both operate excellent X accounts and President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have been frequently available to the public. President Trump has probably set a record for questions asked and answered in the first three weeks of any major military action. There is simply no reason for anyone to complain about a lack of information about the war.

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It is also not hard to find out what our ally is doing and the burden they are bearing. The tiny slice of America that hates Israel as a result of dark and ancient impulses (or lucre) doesn’t amount to many, though they are noisy. Ordinary Americans ought to know what our allies, especially Israel, are doing. It’s not hard to find out. Good guests from across the Israeli political spectrum are not hard to find. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the equal of any malign nation over the past half century. Its hatred of the U.S. and the West generally is unsurpassed, and they have never kept that hatred a secret. Its complete defeat would be an enormous boon to the world and the Iranian people.

Need proof? Read last year’s excellent book by Vali Nasr, the Majid Khaddouri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.: "Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History." 

This battle is the story of this decade, and its outcome one of those very few-and-far between hinge points of history which are obvious as they occur, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. That the coverage of the war and our allies in it take a back seat to, well, anything else at all is astonishing.  

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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The fog of war usually refers to maddening confusion about what is happening on the battlefield.

But right now we have the fog of peace talks: Are they real, are they going anywhere, and which side is telling the truth?

It’s clear that President Trump, insisting he can end the war with Iran whenever he wants, is looking for an exit ramp to declare victory and get out.

WINNING THE BATTLES, LOSING THE WAR? AMERICA MUST DEFINE THE ENDGAME IN IRAN

It’s just as clear that the theocratic dictatorship–at least the leaders who survived the attacks that killed the ayatollah and many others–are digging in their heels. They will claim victory just for surviving the military onslaught that has decimated their navy and air force.

When Trump said there were back-channel talks–granting a five-day delay on threats to obliterate its energy facilities–the Iranians flatly denied it. Some prominent pundits doubted Trump. But then Tehran said yeah, well, there have been some secret contacts.

Now we have starkly different accounts of what’s going down.

Trump says the talks have been "very good." The other day, in fact, he depicted the mullahs as making a major concession.

The Iranians have given the U.S. "a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money," Trump said. He was cagey about it, but revealed under questioning by CBS’s Ed O’Keefe that it involved the flow of oil and the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari taunted the administration in a video: "Has the level of your internal conflict reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?"

"Do not call your defeat an agreement," he said.

And for good measure: "Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever."

TRUMP SAYS US, ISRAEL SHATTERED IRANIAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES, PRESSES LEADERS TO SURRENDER: 'CRY UNCLE'

Now some of this is undoubtedly done for domestic consumption. But the two sides sound like they couldn’t be farther apart.

The president has delivered a flurry of mixed messages on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway where an Iranian blockade has choked off one-fifth of the world’s oil traffic. He has said that the situation will work itself out. He has said our European allies (who refused to join our effort to intervene) should resolve this since the U.S. doesn’t rely on the strait. And he has also said that opening Hormuz is a top American priority.

Iran, which has sprinkled the strait with mines, told the U.N. that the waterway is open to any country not backing the U.S. and Israeli attacks. But other nations, and their insurance companies, are reluctant to send billion-dollar tankers into such troubled waters.

The impasse is hurting the president here at home, where soaring oil costs have boosted gas prices and tanked the stock market, shrinking the value of all those 401Ks. When Trump announced the bombing pause Monday, the market snapped back for a day. If there’s one thing Wall Street hates, it’s uncertainty.

Despite signaling that the war is practically over because "we’ve won," Trump just dispatched at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne to the Middle East, along with the USS Tripoli, carrying 2,200 Marines.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been playing the bad cop, vowing if there’s no deal "to destroy the enemy as viciously as possible."

What’s equally unclear is who we’re talking to, with Pakistan playing the intermediary role. Trump has talked about regime change, though there seems no chance of that, and there’s chatter about doing business with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander who at times has taken a diplomatic approach with the West. 

But with so many leaders killed and Ayatollah Khamenei’s son in hiding, no one knows how much influence Ghalibaf, a failed presidential candidate, still has.

Just yesterday, Ghalibaf, invoking the Israeli prime minister, warned the administration against sacrificing American soldiers for "Netanyahu’s delusions," according to al-Jazeera. That hardly sounds conciliatory.

What’s more, the Iranians are famously difficult to negotiate with, going back on promises and moving the goalposts. Just ask Jimmy Carter.

Trump tore up the Obama administration’s nuke deal with the Iranians when he first took office, and now says he wants an agreement in which they renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons. That is extremely unlikely, although the U.S. attacks last June and this month have obviously crippled their efforts.

My sense is that Trump doesn’t want to bomb Iran’s oil and gas facilities, which would clearly extend the war and widen a conflict that has already spread to the surrounding Arab countries. Nor does he want to be seen as backing down. No wonder he’s postponed a showdown.

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"President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday.

The Iranians don’t want a temporary pause in the war, unnamed officials told the New York Times, out of concern that the U.S. and Israel would use the time to rebuild their forces for further airstrikes.

Iran’s only real weapon right now is drones, a few of which have caused damage in Israel, while others are aimed at U.S. military bases in the region. One drone sparked a huge fire at the Kuwaiti airport.

A report by the state broadcaster, Press TV, confirms that Iran won’t accept the U.S. proposal for a cease-fire. In its counter-offer, the dictatorship would also keep sole control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Among other demands, according to Press TV: Guarantees that the attacks on Iran won’t be started up again, and the payment of war damages and reparations. Iran wants any deal extended to Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, which fired rockets at Israel when the war began, triggering an invasion of southern Lebanon.

Another state media outlet, Fars News Agency, quoted a source as saying of a cease-fire: "It is not logical to enter into such a process with those who violate the agreement."

The president has lashed out at the media for painting a relentlessly negative picture of a war that has largely been an American triumph. But it turns out that covering the endgame — if that’s what this is — is equally challenging.

At the moment, it looks like Trump wants a deal more than Iran, given the war’s unpopularity at home and its damage to the economy. For an America First candidate who ran against foreign wars, the prospect of a long, Iraq-style quagmire would be the worst possible outcome.

"Is the U.S. Repeating the Mistakes That Led to Forever Wars?" the Wall Street Journal asked yesterday.

But the coverage of the latest rhetorical sniping accurately reflects the vagueness of a process that may not deserve to be called negotiations.

It is, above all, a blinding fog.   

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When I came to California in the Reagan days, it represented the heart of America — a Golden State where families could work hard, start businesses, and live out their very own American Dream. Today, California has earned a very different reputation: the land of scams.

During the pandemic, criminals siphoned $32 billion out of California’s unemployment system. That’s well above most states’ budgets, enough to fix every pothole from San Diego to Sacramento. And that’s just one program.

We’ve seen millions in SNAP funds diverted by criminal rings in recent years. Millions more have been stolen by AI "ghost students" enrolling in California community colleges and pocketing the cash. Most recently, we’ve seen billions in Medicaid funds go toward non-essential healthcare for illegal immigrants and hundreds of millions more down the drain for fraudulent hospice schemes.

Every time I pick up my phone, there’s fresh fraud in California — and all of this with Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom jetting off to so many European cities, you’d think he was a Eurovision popstar.

JD VANCE SPEARHEADS 'WAR ON FRAUD,' PROMISES TO ROOT OUT TAXPAYER MONEY 'STOLEN' BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

I have written to Newsom directly about each of these cases. In all but one instance, I’ve received no response — not even an acknowledgment of receipt. The lone exception was a dismissive answer regarding my letter on Medicaid fraud, in which the administration claimed the problem was an overblown non-issue because the state would simply reimburse the federal government for improper payments.

It is clear that federal and state dollars are not being competently accounted for in the middle of this fraud circus. Is this really the standard of accountability we want for our hard-earned taxpayer dollars? As a California taxpayer, I certainly do not.

That’s why I introduced the "No More SCAMS Act" to create a federal interagency task force dedicated to cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse across government programs. For too long, our federal agencies have been trying to tackle fraud with no playbook, tripping over themselves while scammers run up the score. My bill puts one quarterback on the field with one game plan and a single mission: stop the fraud.

GOP SHERIFF LEADING CALIFORNIA POLL RIPS NEWSOM’S ‘LOVE AFFAIR’ WITH CRIMINALS

Despite what Sacramento Democrats or Newsom himself might have you believe, the movement to crack down on fraud isn’t some Republican gotcha tactic. It’s good government that puts Californians and Americans first.

These resources should be going to students, veterans, mothers and low-income families in need — not fraudsters and organized criminal rings while career politicians look the other way. Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from Americans who actually need the help and from taxpayers who are stretched thin.

Sadly, fraud is running rampant and California is ground zero. Instead of having a governor focused on fixing the problem and making our state better, we have the biggest snake oil salesman of all.

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Everyone here in California has felt the reality of Newsom’s disastrous policies firsthand. Since he took office in 2019, prices have skyrocketed, crime has spiked, and hardworking Americans can’t afford to raise a family. The American Dream of homeownership has become a generational privilege instead of a goal families can realistically work toward.

Despite all of this, I still believe in our Golden State. It’s my home. It’s where my family is. And it hurts me to see so many of my friends and neighbors struggling because of Sacramento’s out-of-touch policies.

I’ve been battling this lunacy since my days in the State Assembly and continue that fight today as the representative for Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. I didn’t come this far to watch our state be run into the ground by scams, corruption and failed leadership.

It’s true, we’re in the fight of our lives for the soul of California. Working with President Donald Trump, I’m determined to take on that fight and help bring California into its Golden Age.

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A progressive Chicago lawmaker issued an apology Tuesday after facing backlash for suggesting a slain college student was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

Last Thursday, Sheridan Gorman, 18, of Westchester County, New York, was gunned down while taking a walk with friends around 1:30 a.m. along Chicago's lakefront.

Alderwoman Maria Hadden sparked outrage on social media after she suggested in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago that the Loyola University Chicago student was in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and that she may have "startled" the individual who shot and killed her.

The local Democrat's comments were slammed as insensitive and also prompted a response from Gorman’s family, who referenced her remarks.

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Hadden, a progressive ally of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, released a statement Tuesday saying her interview on Fox 32 had "gone viral on conservative media," and that her comments were in response to a question comparing Gorman's murder to a separate 2018 case.

"In an effort to make sense of a senseless situation, I said things that landed wrong with some people," she said. "My comments were never intended to blame the victim or to imply that Sheridan should not have been out enjoying the park or that it was her fault that she was shot.

"In the interview, I tried my best to share what limited information I had with our community as fast as possible while helping to address the fears people had about the shooting," Hadden continued. "I sincerely apologize for any additional pain that my comments may have caused."

MASKED GUNMAN KILLS LOYOLA CHICAGO COLLEGE STUDENT IN SHOOTING NEAR CAMPUS; POLICE HUNT FOR SUSPECT

She added, "The fact that some media outlets are intentionally creating sound bites to misconstrue my words during this tragedy is also unfortunate."

Gorman’s family referenced Hadden’s remarks from the Fox 32 interview, saying the slain college student "deserved the future that was stolen from her."

"What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not an abstraction. This is the loss of a daughter. The loss of a sister. The loss of a future filled with milestones that will now never come. Our family is forever changed."

CHICAGO LAWMAKER RIPPED OVER 'DISGUSTING' RESPONSE TO COLLEGE STUDENT KILLED BY ALLEGED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

The family added: "We cannot accept a world where moments like this become something people grow used to. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to violence. When we begin to accept these tragedies as inevitable, we all become vulnerable to them. Apathy is not harmless—it allows these moments to repeat."

Jose Medina-Medina was arrested and charged with Gorman’s murder.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Medina is an illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration before being apprehended and released into the country.

DHS said the 25-year-old Venezuelan national was previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago.

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

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Nine students were injured on Tuesday after a driver struck them with a vehicle at a school in Ankeny, Iowa, according to officials.

The incident happened around 3:15 p.m. as students were being picked up from St. Luke’s Catholic School on NW Weigel Drive, city police and fire officials said at a news conference.

A vehicle in the pickup line jumped the curb and struck the students, officials said.

STUDENTS ON CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL TRACK TEAM INJURED AFTER SUSPECTED DUI DRIVER ACCUSED OF HITTING THEM

Several parents in line provided aid to the children until emergency responders arrived at the scene. The nine victims were then rushed to local hospitals.

Some of the students who were struck suffered serious injuries, according to officials. Their ages and conditions were not made publicly available, but the school teaches students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

The driver, who has not been identified, was not injured and remained at the scene after the incident.

Sgt. Trevor McGraw, a spokesperson for the Ankeny Police Department, told reporters that the incident did not appear to be an intentional act of violence.

Investigators are continuing to probe what may have caused the collision.

People were asked to avoid the area to allow emergency responders to access the scene.

CAR BARRELS INTO CROWD OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA BAR, GUNFIRE ERUPTS IN CHAOTIC SCENE CAUGHT ON VIDEO

"Thank you to parents from the school pickup line who assisted the injured immediately while emergency services were on the way," city officials said. "Thank you to teachers and staff for assisting injured students and students who witnessed the traumatic incident."

The Des Moines Diocese told WHO 13: "Please know that we pray for the families involved and for the first responders who assisted."

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President Donald Trump paused planned U.S. strikes on Iran just hours before a self-imposed deadline, citing diplomatic progress that Tehran immediately denied, even as U.S. forces continued moving into position, a split signal that leaves the next move uncertain.

The move creates a narrow five-day window in which the administration is signaling diplomacy while preserving the ability to strike, raising the stakes for whether talks materialize — or whether the delay simply sets up near-term escalation.

The abrupt shift follows a weekend ultimatum in which Trump warned the U.S. would begin targeting Iran’s power infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened, a threat that rattled global oil markets and heightened fears of imminent conflict.

By Monday morning, however, Trump announced a five-day delay, pointing to what he described as "very good and productive conversations" tied to a broader framework that includes nuclear disarmament.

TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY REVEALS WHAT LED TO BREAKDOWN IN IRAN TALKS BEFORE OPERATION EPIC FURY

The rapid shift from ultimatum to pause in less than 48 hours resets the clock, opening a five-day window for diplomacy before a decision on strikes.

The whiplash shift, from strike threat to sudden pause, adds to the uncertainty around Washington’s next move.

The White House and the Iranian mission to the United Nations could not immediately be reached for comment.

Iranian officials quickly rejected the claim that negotiations were underway, dismissing Trump’s comments as "psychological warfare" and accusing Washington of using the appearance of diplomacy to buy time.

Even as the White House points to diplomacy, the Pentagon has continued to expand its military footprint in the region.

In recent days, thousands of U.S. Marines have been deployed aboard amphibious warships, adding rapid-strike and ground-operation capabilities near Iran, with additional naval assets positioned to support escalation if ordered.

The posture suggests the United States is maintaining, and in some cases increasing, its readiness to act, even as Trump signals a potential opening for negotiations.

TRUMP DELAYS XI MEETING AS IRAN CONFLICT LETS US STRONG-ARM CHINA’S OIL SUPPLY

Iranian officials argue the two tracks are linked.

Tehran has accused Washington of using talk of diplomacy to influence oil markets and buy time for military repositioning, deepening uncertainty over whether the pause reflects a genuine diplomatic opening or a temporary delay before further action.

The dual-track approach is also being echoed by key U.S. allies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Trump sees "an opportunity to leverage the substantial achievements" of recent military operations to advance war objectives through a potential agreement.

"At the same time, we continue to strike both in Iran and in Lebanon," Netanyahu said.

Some analysts say the approach reflects a strategy of applying military pressure while testing whether diplomacy produces concessions.

"I think that there’s definitely a method to the president’s decision-making here," Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital. 

"He is testing to see what concessions the Iranian regime would be prepared to make," Brodsky said. "The president can be testing diplomacy. The president can also be buying time. … All these things can be true at the same time. It’s not either-or." 

Still, Brodsky expressed skepticism that the current moment will produce a breakthrough. 

"I remain skeptical that we’re anywhere near a point where the Iranian regime will make significant concessions," he said.

With the five-day window now underway, attention is shifting to what comes next.

If negotiations fail to materialize, the administration could move forward with the strikes it has already threatened or escalate to a ground operation — with forces now in position to carry them out. If talks do take shape, the pause could mark the start of a broader diplomatic effort.

A central unresolved issue is Iran’s nuclear stockpile, which Trump and Israeli officials have signaled remains a key objective of the operation. Securing or neutralizing highly enriched uranium could prove critical in determining whether the conflict moves toward a diplomatic resolution or further military action.

In the coming days, key indicators will include whether any indirect talks emerge through intermediaries, whether U.S. force posture continues to expand, and whether Iran takes steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or signals willingness to negotiate.

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