The 60-day deadline for a U.S.-Iran peace deal came and went Monday with nothing to show for it — and working Americans are still on the hook for another open-ended Middle East commitment with no defined exit.

President Trump signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Versailles in June promising an end to the war and a resolution of Iran's nuclear program within 60 days. The deadline was Monday. The two sides are further apart now than when the ink dried. The MOU is effectively dead, and neither party is extending it. "Well, they want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei was blunter: "We did not start any negotiations at all, and the US violated the understanding from the very beginning; therefore, the 60-day issue is not relevant."

The deal collapsed within a week. Iran fired on vessels using an alternate route along Oman's coast. The U.S. struck Iran. Iran retaliated against Arab countries hosting American forces — Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain. Trump canceled waivers letting Iran sell oil and restored a blockade. Each side accused the other of violating the agreement, of which almost nothing now remains.

The central sticking point is the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas before the war. The MOU called for it to be reopened but gave Iran a vaguely defined role in facilitating traffic — a loophole Tehran seized to claim control over the waterway. The strait remains shut. The U.S. Navy has redirected 64 commercial ships under the blockade since mid-July, according to U.S. Central Command. Trump has even mused about declaring the strait a U.S. territory: "We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory. We can."

That is empire talk, not America First. And the costs are landing on ordinary people. Escalating this deeply unpopular war would drain U.S. stocks of advanced missile interceptors, jolt the world economy, and drive up gas prices ahead of congressional elections — a fact even the establishment press concedes. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is promising "measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a country" — more economic warfare with no endgame in sight.

Then there was Trump's remark about Oman, which is reportedly working with Tehran on a plan to open the strait: "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s–t out of them." Threatening to bomb an ally negotiating a de-escalation path is the kind of reckless escalation that keeps permanent Washington's defense contractors fed and American families footing the bill.

A related truce in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah has mostly held, AP reported, even as Israeli troops occupy large areas in the country's south — so much for the "territorial integrity and sovereignty" the June deal was supposed to guarantee. Pakistan, which brokered the MOU, expressed hope for an extension, but both sides agree that's pointless now.

This is the bipartisan failure in plain view. The neocon-neoliberal alliance got its war in February, launched alongside Israel with no vote and no strategy. Now the U.S. has no good options: accede to Iran's demands — lifting the blockade, withdrawing forces, paying reparations — which would be tantamount to admitting defeat, or escalate and bleed more treasure. Both sides are waiting for the other to blink. So far, neither has. Follow the money: defense stocks don't dip on stalemates. They thrive on them.

The question isn't whether Tehran is negotiating in good faith — it clearly isn't. The question is why American forces and dollars are still parked in the Persian Gulf with no measure of success, no timeline for withdrawal, and no leader in either party willing to cut the losses and bring them home.