President Trump with Vice President JD Vance and war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Arlington Cemetery ceremony on Memorial Day [White House photo].

Where is That Deal? – A lot happened between Washington and Tehran through the Memorial Day weekend. None of it remotely resembled a peace deal.

Here’s the latest from The New York Times and The Guardian:

Iran Tuesday has threatened to retaliate against US strikes Monday that the US said are defensive, against Iran’s missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay more mines in the Strait of Hormuz (The Guardian).

The Islamic Republic accused the US of violating the ceasefire. Its Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a written statement that US military bases in the Middle East are no longer safe and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to  respond forcefully to any US strikes (NYT).

These bellicose statements replaced negotiations after President Trump Truth Socialed Saturday that a deal with Iran was imminent, but he once again warned Iran had better reach an agreement or face annihilation. The Trump administration’s threats do not seem to scare the country that has chanted “death to America” for 47 years.

Iran did ease up slightly on repression of its own people, as President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered his country’s communications ministry to end its nearly complete internet blackout. 

Trump Truth Socialed, again on Monday afternoon that Iran’s enriched uranium will either be turned over to the US and destroyed or is to be destroyed in coordination of Iran and the Atomic Energy Commission. 

Iran officials traveled to Doha, Qatar, Monday to discuss negotiations ….  Hours before the US Military announced strikes on Iran meant to protect US troops.  

The upshot is … The Trump administration is struggling to reach the same level of compliance by Iran on its nuclear arms program that the Obama administration took two years to reach under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed and President Trump threw out in his first administration … while also working to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

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Slight Ease of Gas Pains – National average for a gallon of regular unleaded ticked below $4.50 Tuesday to $4.491, 1.6-cents lower than Monday, but up $1.51 over February 28. Diesel slid, too, by 7.2 cents from last Thursday to $5.584 per gallon, or +$1.787 versus the start of the war on Iran.

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Russia Targets ‘Decision Centers’ – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate the US embassy in Kyiv as Russia prepares to begin strikes on Ukraine’s “decision-making centers” (per The Kyiv Independent).

Moscow has framed the planned hit as retaliation for Ukraine’s attack on Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast. The Kremlin claims the attack hit a dormitory in Starobilsk, though Kyiv counters that it was targeting a Russian drone command facility.

Russia staged its heaviest attack Tuesday on Ukraine since the beginning of the war, hitting every district in Kyiv. But that attack is seen as a sort of desperation as the four-year-old war hobbles Russia’s economy as Ukraine shows unexpected levels of resilience with its aggressive military drone program. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa