War on Iran: Is escalation more likely than a deal?

The Bottom LineFormer Iranian and US diplomats agree that the war on Iran is likely to get worse in the coming weeks.When US leaders insist that the war on Iran is about nuclear weapons and not about oil, Iran’s leaders don’t believe them, argues former Iranian diplomat Hossein Mousavian.Mousavian and former US diplomat Alan Eyre – both of whom were involved in previous negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme – tell host Steve Clemons that the conflict is not heading to a peace deal or even a “permanent stalemate” any time soon.The administration of US President Donald Trump prefers quick wins to diplomacy, argues Eyre, “and the responsibility is on the countries in the region to take more of the lead … with US buy-in, not US leadership”.