How Trump’s ‘coercive diplomacy’ failed to forestall war between Israel and Iran

How Trump’s ‘coercive diplomacy’ failed to forestall war between Israel and Iran


If there was a moment when President Donald Trump’s carefully crafted diplomatic initiative was derailed and Iran’s fate was sealed, it was on June 4, when Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected a nuclear deal proposed by the United States.

Khamenei, 86, who has the final word on everything in Iran, called the key demand, that Iran give up enriching uranium, “nonsense” and “100%” against Tehran’s interests.

“A nuclear industry without enrichment capabilities is useless because we would then be dependent on others to obtain fuel for our power plants,” Khamenei said.

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Up until that point, Trump believed his negotiating team, headed by a billionaire real estate executive, had crafted an artful compromise. Iran could keep its nuclear reactors for generating electricity, but the uranium

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