Trump’s strategy on Iran

Trump’s strategy on Iran has seemed to mirror his playbook in Venezuela, where he amassed a huge naval armada and demanded concessions. This is 21st-century diplomacy backed by aircraft carrier groups and cruise missiles.

But he risks creating a box for himself that it will be difficult to exit with credibility intact if it turns out that his repeated claims that Iran wants a “deal” are wrong.

The kind of deal that Trump can offer Iran may be unacceptable to its clerical regime, whose top priority is perpetuating itself. 

And a deal Tehran could offer Trump may be one he’d never accept, since it doesn’t want to talk about its ballistic missiles or regional proxy network, which he sees as red lines.

CNN 19 February 2026

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/19/politics/trump-iran-strikes-nuclear-program-board-of-peace-analysis

For years, Donald Trump defined himself against the architects of the Iraq War. 

He cast Middle Eastern interventions as moral vanity projects paid for in American blood and treasure. He promised no more regime change. No more endless wars.

Yet as nuclear talks with Iran falter, American warships mass off Iran’s shores and bombers move into range. The president who rose by denouncing George W. Bush now finds himself reviving the logic of Bush’s Middle East policy.

https://www.thefp.com/p/donald-trumps-iran-trap

USA upprepar hot om attack mot Iran februari 18, 2026

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/02/usa-upprepar-hot-om-attack-mot-iran.html