America’s Iran Failure Is Bigger Than Trump
The article argues that the Trump administration's return to maximalist military and economic pressure on Iran, after a brief pause for diplomacy, reveals a deeper institutional failure in US foreign policy. Recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran (March 8, 2026) caused a fire at the Shahran oil depot in Tehran and killed three more US service members, bringing the total to 17. The US has widened attacks to include bridges, electrical infrastructure, and the Darkhovin nuclear site, while Iran has struck US bases in Jordan and the Persian Gulf. The authors contend that this cycle of escalation is not merely Trump's impulsiveness but the logical conclusion of a bipartisan US approach that assumes coercion will force Iranian concessions. They argue that decades of sanctions and military pressure have instead strengthened hardliners in Iran and discredited moderates, while US institutions have failed to learn from past failures.
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