Only two questions remain regarding the U.S. war with Iran: How much crow will President Trump have to eat to end this conflict with some achievements? And will he call it lobster or filet mignon?
I'm fine if Trump eats a pile of crow—for instance, his promised "unconditional surrender" of Iran won't happen—if it results in Iran giving up its roughly 1,000 pounds of near weapons-grade uranium. That would remove the immediate threat of an Iranian bomb, a very good thing.
But please spare me the claim that Trump has secured a perfect deal. Securing that highly enriched uranium will leave the vile Islamic republic regime in power—still holding some 10 tons of low-enriched uranium—and actually strengthen it.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be remembered as the team that gave the Islamic republic a second lease on life, just when it was most vulnerable to its own people.
The only way Iran will relinquish that near bomb-grade uranium is through a deal that lifts the U.S. blockade on Iran's oil exports and economic sanctions. That relief will inject huge cash into the regime, allowing it to buy off or repress opponents at home and fuel proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
"Trump launched this war of choice with the transformational goal of regime change," said Robert Litwak, an arms control expert. "He is on the verge of ending it through a transactional deal that will be a variant of the agreement Obama negotiated in 2015, which Trump recklessly jettisoned in 2018."