For Trump, both action and inaction in Iran have consequences, says Karim Sadjadpour
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Trump faces difficult choices in support for Israel’s war on Iran
Eric Edelman and Karim Sadjadpour weigh in on the U.S. response to Israel’s strikes on Iran. They say the president’s language towards Iran has ramped up over the last few days. Edelman says Israel has done enormous damage to Iran’s nuclear program, but it is not able to completely eliminate it because of a lack of certain military capabilities, which the United States possesses. The challenge for the president is whether the worst outcome would be to leave an Iran that has been damaged, humiliated, but still has the capability of reconstituting its nuclear program.
Also breaking with the president, Georgia Representative and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene, posting on X last night — quote — “Foreign wars, intervention, regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction,” all while the U.S. deploys more fighter jets to the Middle East to bolster its forces, as the two regional powers continue to trade blows.
Let’s delve into this more now with Eric Edelman, who was a career Foreign Service officer and served at high levels in the State and Defense departments in both Democratic and Republican administrations, and Karim Sadjadpour. He’s a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.
Gentlemen, thank you for joining us.
Eric Edelman, we have seen President Trump’s language towards Iran really ramp up over the last few days of Israeli strikes, threatening the ayatollah outright, calling for surrender. What do you see here? Is this a U.S. that’s pushing for talks or that’s preparing for more of a military effort in some way?
Eric Edelman, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy: Well, I think the president obviously has expressed in the past that he would prefer a diplomatic solution, but has been frustrated in that effort for a variety of reasons.
I think now the administration and the president and his colleagues today are facing up to a very difficult reality, which is that Israel has done enormous damage to Iran’s nuclear program, but it is not able to completely eliminate it because of a lack of certain military capabilities, which the U.S. possesses.
And so the challenge he now faces is whether the worst outcome would be to leave an Iran that has been damaged, humiliated, but still has the capability of reconstituting its nuclear program. I mean, this is a country that since the revolution has been founded on the notion of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
So, in that sense, the American and Israeli faith are entwined at this point.