According to Elliot Abrams, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the US Representative for Iran under the George W. Bush administration, “The United States appears to be signaling weakness right from the start – abandoning the goal of ending Iran’s nuclear program." In March 2025, Trump said, “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing… the likes of which they have never seen before.” So why is Trump, after so many years of bellicose statements against the Islamic Republic and disparaging comments about the weakness of the Obama/Biden agreement (JCPOA), seemingly open to a limited agreement that sounds little better? If the regime is endangered, as a last-ditch effort and as a bargaining chip to end military strikes, Iran could mine and attack shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which is between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
Author: BY ERIC R. MANDEL
Published at: 2025-04-16 22:53:49
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