Rob Fowler

A rumor out of Iran says Abbas Araghchi asked the Americans for asylum the week he was in New York, got a preliminary yes, and pulled it two days later. Family problems, he said. The version going around was that his own security detail found out and his sister and family were picked up overnight. That is why he stayed. He was trying to bargain his way out of a case before Rubio told the delegation to get on a plane. I cannot confirm the asylum request. The week on the record is strange enough. Pezeshkian spoke and left. Araghchi stayed, supposedly for indirect talks through Qatar that went nowhere. Axios reported the State Department put a U.S. protective detail on him after reviewing threats. Then Rubio ordered the team out. They flew to Doha at 1:20 in the morning. Tehran denied they had been told to leave. Then he landed, and his sister was dead. Pezeshkian, the roads minister, the atomic energy chief, Qatar, Pakistan, all sending condolences. A funeral photo. No cause. A foreign minister who needs American bodyguards in New York, because he does not trust the men who flew in with him, is not negotiating from strength. He comes home and the person who was supposed to be the leverage is in the ground. The Islamic Republic does not have to announce how these things happen. It just has to make sure the diplomat is the one standing at the grave. No matter what happened, Araghchi's travel to New York and his extra stay and getting thrown out were all very strange. The regime might be closer to falling than we think.