Gregg Carlstrom

And so he's trying to sweeten the deal by adding the prospect of expanding the Abraham Accords.

Not a whole lot, honestly.

I mean, if you listen to Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, or Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, I mean, they will highlight things like the damage to Iran's navy or to Iran's air force.

These are not significant strategic gains.

The Navy and the Air Force in Iran were mostly stocked with museum pieces that Iran purchased when the Shah was in power before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Yes, there's been some damage to Iran's ability to produce ballistic missiles, to fire ballistic missiles, but as we've seen over the past few months,

it retains the capacity to fire enough to cause extensive damage in the Gulf countries and extensive damage to the global economy.

I think the one outstanding question from the war is how bad is the damage to Iran's economy?

We've seen Israeli strikes on steel mills, on petrochemical plants, on other things that are central pillars of the Iranian economy.

Even government officials in Tehran acknowledge that we're talking about probably millions of people who have lost their jobs, either directly or indirectly, as a result of the war.

So how extensive is that damage and what does it mean for Iran?

the stability of the regime in the long term.

I mean, I suppose that is something in a very abstract way that the Americans could point to as an accomplishment.

But the goals that they set out when they went into the war of eradicating Iran's nuclear program, its ability to menace its neighbors, perhaps even trying to change the regime, they haven't achieved any of those things.

I think they're both desperate, honestly.

I mean, I think it's clear that Trump is with Americans paying $4.50 a gallon for petrol, with inflation ticking up, with voters, including many Republican voters, unhappy about all of this.

It's an impossible situation.

political position for him.

But for Iran as well, this blockade of their ports is having an impact.

We are getting closer and closer to the point where Iran is going to have to start shutting down oil production, and that risks long-term damage to its oil facilities.