More likely in such ill-prepared encounters is often an ill-tempered recapitulation of the general lack of congruence.

This was the case in last month's Islamabad "talks" between the US and Iran — with Israel acting as third-party proxy for "collective forces" trying to "force the end" (a Greater Israel regional hegemony) — by demanding effectively massive (and unrestricted) regional territorial control for Israel.

For such talks to serve a purpose, they would have to concretise an underlying level of agreement between the parties — if such can be found. Otherwise, the best that may emerge will be informal arrangements that are never formalised, but may, in the instant, suit the interests of the parties involved. Such understandings last as long as they last. That's it.

Esmail Baqaei, spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, noted that over these 47 years, deep distrust and suspicion have accumulated with the US:

You should not expect that within a short period of time, after an extraordinarily bloody war, in which … Iran, having fought two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, two exceptionally ruthless regimes, whose brutality we witnessed over the past two and a half years in the crimes of Gaza and Lebanon, would quickly reach a settlement [with us].

Aurelien succinctly outlines the impasse:

The US (present) and Israel (present by proxy) want to damage and if possible, destroy Iran as a functioning state. For the US, this is revenge for nearly fifty years of humiliation, dating from the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the disastrous failure of the subsequent rescue mission – as well as for Iranian attempts to frustrate US policies in the Levant. For Israel, the objective is to destroy the only country standing between them and their domination of the region. (The US also represents this objective vicariously). The Iranians obviously want to prevent all this, but they also want an end to sanctions and isolation.

Esmail Baqaei adds:

"Our central concern is that we reach a point as soon as possible where we can say with confidence that the threat of war [against Iran] no longer exists."

The new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, expands on the Iranian objectives by stating explicitly:

"A new era has begun in the Strait of Hormuz, and American hegemony has come to an end."