Matthew Whitaker, June 10 -- The man delivering Washington's latest ultimatum to Tehran on Wednesday was not the secretary of state, not the secretary of defense. It was the United States ambassador to NATO, speaking from Brussels, the alliance's headquarters, on Fox News. The geography was not incidental.

"He's going to use all of the incredible armed forces in the military that the United States has," Whitaker said, "to get a situation where Iran will make a deal."

The statement arrived as the Iran-US standoff, now well past its hundredth day, remained locked in what the White House has itself described as stalled negotiations. Iran's latest response to a US ceasefire proposal, transmitted through Pakistani mediators in May, was rejec...