Alex Ward

So what Kaine is not advocating necessarily for, don't do the strikes.

He's just saying, effectively, Mr. President, if you want to choose these massive options against Iran, you're welcome to.

Just know that these are the risks that you incur if you choose such options.

We still don't exactly know what the administration is trying to achieve with these strikes.

There are questions about whether it's all about regime change.

That's a possibility.

It's also just about hitting the Iranians really hard for not giving up any designs on obtaining a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has long denied, or whether it's a very, very belated strikes in support of protesters in Iran.

After the 12-day war last year and just years of being hit by the U.S.

and Israel, Iran is in a weak position.

Of course, the protests show that it's in a poor political position.

So there is no greater time, a lot of people are saying, for the U.S.

to kind of push the Iranians to make a deal here.

But that said, the Iranians consider this a kind of existential moment for the regime, facing its weakest moment since it came to power in 1979.

So they're basically saying, hey, America, if you don't make a deal with us and you strike us, we are going to hit you with everything we've got.

President Trump and others say if there is no deal, there will be other options available to them.

But the risk there, of course, is a U.S.

strike on Iran could lead to a bigger conflict in the region.

The U.S.

and Iran are locked in both a military standoff and a diplomatic negotiation.

The U.S.