“President Donald Trump said Sunday that U.S. representatives are returning to Pakistan for negotiations to end the war with Iran – but renewed his threats of broad attacks to destroy the country’s infrastructure if no deal is reached,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump accused Iran of violating a fragile two-week ceasefire as it closed the vital Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday and two ships reported attacks while attempting to cross, after a brief reopening brought hope for an end to the war.”

“Trump said representatives would be in Islamabad on Monday evening but did not share further details. The ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday.”

Robert Pape: “In a matter of a day, the system snapped back to escalation. This is not a story about fragile diplomacy or poor sequencing. It is a story about zero-sum conflict, where the core issues cannot be divided, traded, or deferred without forcing one side to accept a strategic loss—a direct contest over relative power.”

“At the center of the war is a fact that cannot be negotiated away: Iran either retains a nuclear capability on the threshold of weapons, or it does not. There is no stable middle ground that satisfies both sides. For the United States, allowing Iran to sustain that capability would fundamentally alter the regional balance of power, weaken deterrence, and undermine the credibility of long-standing nonproliferation commitments. For Iran, relinquishing that capability—especially under coercion—would expose the regime to future pressure and potential regime-threatening vulnerability.”

“This is not a bargaining problem where incremental concessions can produce equilibrium. It is a zero-sum condition, where the outcome directly determines the security of both sides—because it determines their relative power.”

“The Strait of Hormuz was largely shut to Western shipping early Sunday, as Iran’s top negotiator said the two countries were far from a final deal to end the war,” the New York Times reports.

“Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the chief Iranian negotiator in talks with the United States, said in a televised address late Saturday that the United States had failed to pressure Iran through ultimatums or secure international backing for the war, which began with a U.S.-Israeli air assault in late February.”

Wall Street Journal: “Iran’s quick reversal of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has laid bare a rift between the country’s political leaders and the military hard-liners who have deepened their hold on the government since the war began.”

CNN: How 24 hours of whiplash over the Strait of Hormuz unfolded.

“The United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on the argument that if Iran one day got a nuclear weapon, it would have the ultimate deterrent against future attacks,” the New York Times reports.

“It turns out that Iran already has a deterrent: its own geography.”

“Iran’s decision to flex its control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows, has brought global economic pain in the form of higher prices for gasoline, fertilizer and other staples. It has upended war planning in the United States and Israel, where officials have had to devise military options to wrest the strait from Iranian control.”

CNN: A timeline of how the Trump administration responded as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz consumed the global economy.

“North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, accelerating its missile launches amid Iran war tensions and talk of possible meetings with the U.S. and South Korea,” CNBC reports.

“Pyongyang’s intense missile activity – this was the fourth such launch this month and the seventh of the year – is meant to display its self-defence capabilities while gaining international leverage.”

A new Politico poll finds support for military action in Iran is weak — just 38 percent of Americans back the strikes — and views remain largely unchanged from the days following the joint U.S.-Israel strikes, even as the administration has now had weeks to make its case.

A majority of respondents say the war is not in the interests of the American people, and a plurality are still not confident that the president has clear objectives — including a notable chunk of his 2024 supporters.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wreaking havoc on Israel’s standing with Americans as the Iran war supercharges a deterioration in relations with the U.S.,” Axios reports.

“Israel’s polling collapse among younger Americans is hitting Congress, too. Lawmakers who started out staunchly pro-Israel are becoming increasingly vocal critics.”

“The U.S. military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, expanding its naval crackdown beyond the Middle East,” the Wall Street Journal reports.