"The Trump administration and the Iranian regime both say they prefer a diplomatic solution to the war, but a deal looks more elusive than ever.
Here's a look at some of the deep-seated dynamics between the two countries, personal, cultural and political, that have stymied efforts to broker a deal, via Axios' Barak Ravid:
Timing: The two countries see the timeframe for negotiations very differently.
"America under Trump is the attention-deficit superpower ... incapable of sustaining a strategy," Karim Sadjadpour, a senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, told Axios.
"Iran under the Islamic Republic is the obsessive-compulsive theocracy, fixated on resisting America far more than advancing the welfare of its own people."
Showmanship: Trump loves a splashy show of political theater, with him cast as lead actor. The Iranians prefer a narrow, transactional deal that's negotiated indirectly, or with the lowest public profile possible.
"Trump and his negotiators pride themselves on being dealmakers. In Iranian political culture, the word for compromiser, 'sazeshkar' is practically a slur," Sadjadpour said.
Mistrust: This is the fundamental impediment in the negotiations.
The Iranians claim Trump cheated them twice when he attacked them in the middle of talks. Many inside the regime think any more engagement with the U.S. is just a ruse to mask preparations for a surprise attack.
The U.S. side counters that Iran cheated when it violated the June 2026 memorandum of understanding, by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz."
Axios
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