“Just remember, the Iranians never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” – that is what US President Donald Trump said nearly six years ago, in a July 29, 2019, post on then-Twitter, as tensions with Tehran edged toward open conflict.
A year earlier, Trump had withdrawn the United States from the nuclear deal negotiated under then-president Barack Obama, and by mid-2019, Washington had reimposed sweeping sanctions. In the weeks before the tweet, Iran shot down a US drone and attacked oil tankers in the Gulf. The US surged forces to the region, and Trump approved – but then aborted – retaliatory strikes at the last minute.
Today, as US-Iranian tensions are again at a fever…