White House officials: No plans to extend the ceasefire have been heard yet

On 15 August, Politico reported that the month-long ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iraq would expire next Monday and that, if it could not be extended, the war could escalate for nearly six months. According to White House officials, the negotiations remained “stagnating” as of Friday afternoon, without hearing of the arrangements for the extension. “It does not matter whether Iran wishes to return to the negotiating table, but they have not yet done so.” The difficulty of negotiations stems in part from the decentralization of power within Iran and the divergent positions of the Revolutionary Guards, religious forces and the Government, which require all factional nodding agreements to come into effect. Disagreements have focused on sanctions, frozen assets and passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with the United States saying that any form of fees or traffic control is “unacceptable”. If Iran rejects the agreement, the United States retains “all options” and sanctions and blockades have seriously damaged the Iranian economy, Iran should return to the negotiating table. However, informed sources believe that the United States may have underestimated Iran's affordability and that if it is to stabilize the situation before the mid-term elections, it needs to move as quickly as possible。