Iran’s vulnerability affords the United States significant leverage to secure a strong nuclear deal, but only if Washington focuses on the nuclear file rather than overloading talks with additional priorities. The nuclear deal: A real, if limited, American interestConcerns about Iran’s nuclear activities justify reasonable diplomatic efforts to prevent Iranian weaponization, but do not warrant costly and risky military action. The U.S. has a historic opportunity to negotiate a significantly more restrictive nuclear deal than the JCPOA, reflecting Iran’s weakened position. If the United States concludes a nuclear agreement with Iran, it acquires a substantial interest in preventing developments that might collapse the deal. Threatening regime change against Iran is therefore completely counterproductive to Trump’s other goals, most notably a sensible nuclear deal.

Source: CNN February 23, 2026 21:56 UTC