June 23, 2025
Is there a diplomatic off-ramp available for the U.S. and Iran?

President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s main nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan has created a host of weighty questions that none of us can answer with any finality right now, that’s despite his Monday night announcement of a “ceasefire” between Israel and Iran.
Despite the administration’s claims of a successful operation, how much of Tehran’s nuclear program is left standing? Do the Iranians still have access to the roughly 400 kilograms of 60% highly enriched uranium they previously produced, and if so, where is that uranium now? How, where and when will Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the future respond to the U.S. strikes? And is Trump, a man who purportedly hates the regime-change wars of the past, becoming ever more sympathetic with the idea of toppling the government in Tehran?
The most immediate question, however, is this: Is there a diplomatic exit ramp the United States and Iran can take to prevent the current tension from spiraling?
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