Dealing with a Difficult Iran: Get Smart

Like it or not, the Trump Administration will have to pay attention to Iran.  The President’s pre­de­cessors, beginning in 1979, have taken multiple paths, usually with few results beyond frustration.  Unable to ignore the Islamic Republic, they tried contain­ment, regime change, and engagement.  Nothing much worked, and – with a few exceptions – little changed as the two countries remained camped on opposite sides of an abyss trading threats, insults, and accusations.

Even those decades of futility, however, have provided lessons to be learned and suggest a path for the new administration.