Negotiating With Iran Could Pay Off for Trump
Nice work if you can get it.
If there has been one consistent theme in Donald Trump’s foreign policy since the early days of his campaign, it has been his insistence that America has not benefited economically from the global order it mostly protects. Yet when it comes to U.S. policy in the Middle East, he has been wildly inconsistent. During the presidential race, he talked about ripping up the nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers. He walked that pledge back shortly after taking office. Nor has he acted on his rhetoric of ramping up sanctions on Tehran.
So, here's a way the Trump administration could bring these foreign policy contradictions in accord: By confronting conventional Washington wisdom that isolating Iran is beneficial to America's strategic goals. Instead, the U.S. could try building on the nuclear pact in a way that would allow Tehran to gain more economic incentives by moderating, what Washington has long regarded, as its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East.