“The U.S. bargaining position was hurt by the war, not helped by it,” Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, told Fox News Digital.
Kelanic said Trump is now “buying off Iran to return to something approaching the pre-war status quo” by offering immediate sanctions waivers and unfreezing assets tied to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
She argued that the immediate waivers are the price Trump has to pay to convince Iran he is serious about diplomacy after launching strikes during negotiations.
“This is like earnest money, right?” Kelanic said. “It’s like upfront cash that shows that he really means it. It’s a costly signal that Trump essentially forced himself to have to make by breaking off negotiations and bombing Iran in the middle of them.”
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