Nancy Youssef

would be useful to sort of close that gap in terms of working out what's an acceptable outcome.

Because of the lack of details.

I don't think it's clear what an acceptable outcome would look like.

If the point of these talks ultimately is to avoid the use of military force to remove threats as the United States sees them, then there should be some understanding of what could get us to that point.

And I think the lack of clarity on that makes it hard for those of us watching to get a sense of what's the off-ramp.

So the Iranians have always been pretty firm that they would not give up their program altogether, that that's just an unacceptable line.

Having said that, we have heard from them throughout the week that they are interested in a diplomatic solution.

But I think they have shown themselves to be skilled negotiators, both in the details of the agreement, but also in buying time for themselves, because for them, time is essential if their goal is to avoid U.S.

military action.

I think that's the hope.

I mean, the president in the State of the Union said that he wants to see diplomacy first.

He said that he doesn't believe that the Iranians have sort of said the right thing, that he thinks they want a deal.

We've heard from inside the Pentagon that there are concerns about some of the second and third order effects that could come from military strikes.

It is a costly prospect.

And frankly speaking, the United States conducted strikes last June.

And while the president has said they obliterated the nuclear program, Stephen Witkoff came out and said that they could pose a threat within a week.

And so we have seen from the administration themselves the limitations of these strikes in terms of achieving the outcome, which is an Iran that doesn't pose a nuclear threat.

And so...

Because of all that, you would think that there would be a hope of finding some pathway in which both sides can feel that they have come out on top, short of what could be a protracted, costly, and consequential military action.

And I'll unpack that.