Why Trump Isn't Going to 'Go to Tehran'
Pursuing serious negotiations with Iran would pit him against all the political forces here and abroad that he has been so eager to serve.
Sina Azodi makes the optimistic case for what Trump’s second term Iran policy could be:
Trump’s second term presents a unique opportunity to redefine U.S.-Iranian relations. With ideological hard-liners such as Bolton and Pompeo no longer in his administration, Trump has assembled a team of loyalists aligned with his vision. This shift not only removes key obstacles to diplomacy but also creates a pathway for a recalibrated approach to Tehran that prioritizes transactional agreements over ideological rigidity.
Azodi is a very good analyst, but this is at least partly wrong. It is true that Trump has assembled a team of loyalists aligned with his vision, but that vision remains a hawkish and confrontational one as far as Iran is concerned. It is no accident that he has once again surrounded himself with a new group of hardliners. Trump keeps surrounding himself with hardliners because he likes them and generally agrees with them. Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, is an enthusiastic supporter of “maximum pressure,” Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth was urging Trump to bomb Iran in 2020, and Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio’s love of interventionism and regime change needs no introduction. This is hardly the national security team that one puts together for engagement and détente.