Is the U.S.-Iran ceasefire meaningless now?

What is the best way for our viewers to understand what's really happening? Because both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have said that the Iranian leadership is fractured, so it takes a while for them to get consensus on this memorandum of understanding that they're trying to reach. But as Catherine mentioned, we're 15 weeks into this, and yet you've got these taps, as Pete Hegseth described it, happening back and forth. So what will help move things in a different direction? Well, it is true that the Iranian leadership is fractured. Of course, a lot of them have been killed or injured. And there's a split between the Iranian government and the Revolutionary Guards, which have the weapons. So it will take them time to react to proposals. But as you know, they've had a lot of time. What we're seeing is not a problem with them making decisions. The problem is that they believe that time is on their side. They're willing to impose this kind of suffering on their society. And they are, at least at this point, not willing to compromise.

We also mentioned that Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait have noted incoming Iranian strikes targeting US military facilities. How might Gulf allies of the US change their opinions on where they stand? Well, that's an interesting point because for the last several strikes, the Iranians have focused on those three countries, not on other countries like UAE or Qatar, where the US also has forces. It appears that they're trying to split the Gulf states and maybe get some of them to acquiesce to an agreement. Overall, you have to keep in mind that there are six parties that will need to at least acquiesce to a final agreement, of course, the US and Israel. There's the Iranian government and the Revolutionary Guards. There are the Gulf states. And then there's the rest of the world. And they all may not be happy with the agreement, but they all have to at least acquiesce to it. All right, Colonel Mark Cancian, thanks for being with us this morning.