Iran’s leverage rises as Trump stays in a waiting game

The piece argues that Iran’s latest demands echo the previously signed MoU and that Trump’s alternating threats and retreating steps have left Iran confident in its leverage, especially via control of the Strait of Hormuz. Rather than a concession, Iran appears to want a face-saving victory, pressuring the U.S. while calling for sanctions relief and asset releases. The author suggests revisiting and potentially folding reparations into sanctions relief, and emphasizes that a genuine diplomatic path would require reconstituting a robust U.S. diplomatic effort, something unlikely to happen under Trump without a different president.