Behnam Ben Taleblu

The problem is in the short term, the Iranians are distributing that pain, taking it, and operating still as if they have a bunker mentality.

It's more about missiles than money.

in the very short term for them.

In the medium term, long term, it's all about money.

And that's why they're playing to the edge with what's left of their missile arsenal to get the Trump administration to blink, to get them to give cash up front.

So far, that has not happened.

But the Iranian art of the deal is to wave a missile and hope that there's a deal that has sanctions relief and access to frozen funds

on the back end.

But when it comes to the nuclear side, the second part, that is, my view, is even harder to achieve.

The regime doesn't have a nuclear arsenal, thank goodness, but it does have significant fissile material, including highly enriched uranium, that I think, so long as it remains buried in Iran and the US communicates clearly that it will strike anybody that moves towards those previously declared nuclear sites, things should be okay.

But this is a regime that's proven its intent on rebuilding, repairing, and rearming anyway.

So that is a band-aid.

It's not a long-term solution.

And I think the long-term solution relies either on extracting that uranium or having a policy that is much bigger than counterproliferation, but having a policy that is counter-regime in its entirety.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What do you think?

Well, I don't think it's hyperbole to say that we're still in quite the explosive situation.

There is a war going on, but it's a...

A very asymmetric war.