For Trump, both action and inaction in Iran have consequences, says Karim Sadjadpour
The president’s strategy has been transformed by Israeli persistence and Iranian defiance
IRAN HAS an uncanny way of hijacking American presidencies. The 1979 Iranian revolution and subsequent hostage crisis ended Jimmy Carter’s presidency. The Iran-contra affair tainted Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Iranian machinations in post-war Iraq corroded George W. Bush’s presidency. The October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas, a member of Iran’s axis of resistance, triggered a brutal war that subsumed Joe Biden’s presidency. Donald Trump may have envisioned a second term spent striking deals to resolve wars, but the Iran-Israel war could suck him in, too.
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This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “Karim Sadjadpour”
From the June 21st 2025 edition
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Vinod Khosla on how the anti-green agenda could help climate tech
The key will be to develop technologies at prices attractive to China and India
To understand America today, study the zero-sum mindset, writes Stefanie Stantcheva
Young people and city-dwellers are among those most likely to see one group’s gain as another’s loss
A congressman on how Democrats can regain the initiative on the economy
From housing to health care, the answer is to treat “cost disease”, says Jake Auchincloss
The best check on Fed politicisation is fear of being judged a failure, says Richard Clarida
To install a loyalist, Donald Trump will have to overcome barriers in the courts, in Congress and in markets
This is Europe’s Manhattan Project moment, argues a tech boss
NATO’s front line needs more money, says Gundbert Scherf, but just as important is smarter technology
The UN’s dysfunction undermines global security, argue Ban Ki-moon and Helen Clark
The organisation should not be held hostage by a few powerful states