Donald Trump’s Least Bad Option in Iran

The Economist: “So Mr Trump needs to make a deal with Iran. Forget about anything as good as the pre-war status quo, let alone the deal Barack Obama struck in 2015 to restrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which Mr Trump tore up.”

“The best Mr Trump can hope for is a makeshift pact to reopen the strait in exchange for an extended ceasefire that may, with luck, become permanent. Economic sweeteners will be necessary. The threat of force will remain. Haggling over Iran’s nuclear program will have to come later.”

“Such a deal would be unstable and humiliating for the superpower. Yet it would be less bad than any plausible alternative. For all Mr Trump’s plans to erect a triumphal arch in Washington, his war on Iran has cost America dearly.”