I'm John Batchelor. I welcome my good colleague, Mary Kissel, Executive Vice President

Stevens, Incorporated, former senior advisor to the Secretary of State,

former editorial board member, working for the Wall Street Journal editorial page many years in Asia and New York.

We turn to the matter at hand that is not even lead in the European papers, and that is a puzzle. The fleet off of Iran,

the warplanes surrounding Iran, the apparent decision by the Mullahs to keep talking, but I'm told

the Mullahs do not believe they can achieve JCPOA plus at the table. Therefore, I'm told the Mullis have decided to take the war. What does that

mean? With the overwhelming force, it does not mean defeating the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force.

It means something similar to what we saw in Gaza. The casualties will be exaggerated.

The pressure will build on the U.S. pounding a defenseless without

adequate air protection nation of people that are very large and spread out in infrastructure

across the landscape. There is no obvious target. And the mullah propaganda has

friends in the world, Moscow and Beijing, take the war. Mary, a very good evening to you.

The reason I begin with Iran is because it is not the major story of the moment, which is

considering the scale of the fleet, a puzzle.

Where is the State Department on Iran?

The meeting is said to be next meeting at Thursday of this week.

JCPOA was a model in 2015.

It was inadequate.

So where does the State Department take, admittedly, a very poor situation? Is there anything to be done?

Good evening to you, Mary. Good evening to you, John. Well, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio is no dove on Iran. So he recognizes the threat that that regime poses, not just to the Iranian people,

but to American interests in the region, namely Israel, our friend and partner, not to mention

Iran's global terror ties and malign activity.

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