“Iran has emerged from five weeks of punishing U.S. and Israeli bombing with most of the tools it needs to make a nuclear bomb intact, officials and experts say, giving its negotiators another lever for pressing Washington to make concessions,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“While Iran has gained a powerful new point of economic leverage through its control of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and Israel have long been focused on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday in Islamabad that talks between the two sides broke down after Iran refused to commit to not seeking nuclear weapons in the future.”

“Thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions was one of Washington’s top reasons for going to war.”

“In an election that has President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin rooting for the same outcome, Hungarians on Sunday will decide the fate of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the self-proclaimed champion of illiberal Christian democracy who is a darling of MAGA-aligned American conservatives, an ally of the Kremlin and a proud antagonist of European Union leaders in Brussels,” the Washington Post reports.

Bloomberg: “A defeat for Orban would have an impact far beyond his country of almost 10 million. The European Union’s longest serving leader has been a persistent obstacle to the bloc’s efforts to project geopolitical power beyond its borders and promote democratic values, most recently by vetoing a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine.”

“Vice President JD Vance’s failure to win the concessions the United States sought from Iran in a single, marathon negotiating session over its nuclear program was no surprise,” the New York Times reports.

“But what now?”

“The failure leaves the Trump administration facing several unpalatable options: A lengthy negotiation with Tehran over the future of its nuclear program, or a resumption of a war that has already created the largest energy disruption in modern times, and the prospect of a long struggle over who controls the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought to mollify criticism at home that the war with Iran failed to achieve its goals in a televised address on Saturday, even as he pointedly avoided discussing the weekend negotiations between the U.S. and Iran,” the New York Times reports.

“Vice President JD Vance said after marathon peace talks between the U.S. and Iran that the two sides failed to reach agreement. He said he was leaving the negotiations because Iran refused to offer a commitment not to develop a nuclear weapon,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Vance, in remarks early Sunday morning in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the talks lasted some 21 hours.”

“President Trump played down the importance of the peace talks with Iran that were ongoing in Pakistan against the backdrop of a fragile cease-fire, claiming the U.S. has already won.”

Said Trump: “Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. And the reason is because we’ve won.”

“American intelligence agencies have obtained information that China in recent weeks may have sent a shipment of shoulder-fired missiles to Iran for its conflict with the United States and Israel,” the New York Times reports.

“Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to three U.S. officials, marking the first transit of American warships through the waterway since the war began six weeks ago,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The ships operated in the Gulf then left as planned.”

“In just six weeks, the Iran War has shattered a system of global trade that has enriched people and nations for more than a century: the freedom to sail the open seas,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Strait of Hormuz long functioned as an artery for the world’s maritime economy. But that 30-mile-wide waterway is now a monument to a new global disorder. As some 20,000 sailors effectively held hostage at sea digested President Trump’s cease-fire announcement this week—contingent on the complete opening of the strait—Iranian officials stressed they would determine which ships could leave and at what price.”

“The ‘Tehran toll booth’ was taking effect, as the U.S. Navy watched on, an admission that, at least here and now in the world’s oil corridor, America no longer rules the waves.”

“Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles in its arsenal that it could use by retrieving launchers from underground storage areas, according to American officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The assessments come as the U.S. is working to cement a cease-fire that would fully open the Strait of Hormuz and also insulate Iran, American troops and states in the region from further attacks.”