"It appears that President Trump has decided that he's going to be the president that brings democracy to Cuba," Council Nonresident Senior Fellow Cécile Shea says. "It's a dangerous goal."
"This is already a relationship that's really encountered some turbulence in recent months," Council Distinguished Nonresident Fellow Ambassador Julianne Smith says of the transatlantic alliance. "Adding this Iran war now into the mix is only creating added friction."
"President Trump has made it extraordinarily difficult to be a partner or an ally of the United States in this moment," Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri tells Sky News.
Washington’s Iran policy should be grounded in human rights, liberalism, democracy, regional stability, national security, and economic opportunity—and treated as both a strategic and a moral issue.
"Democrats are strongly opposed to the war, Independents tend to oppose the war, and even among Republicans a lot say they don't know," Council Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Craig Kafura says, drawing on recent polling.
The congressional split over the war powers resolution signals that US President Donald Trump lacks broad support for the military intervention in Iran—and opposition on Capitol Hill is likely to grow if the war grinds on.
Is this a contained escalation, or the start of something much bigger? Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro joins from Tel Aviv to unpack what’s driving this moment.
""I think that President Trump has probably realized he doesn't have the ability to deliver regime change in Iran without committing US troops on the ground," Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri says.
"US President Donald Trump and his administration are plainly unmoved by claims that they bear responsibility for the fates of nations where the United States has intervened," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Suzanne Nossel writes.
"The strike that killed Khamenei also wiped out a lot of the potential candidates or people that they thought would be the next in line," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Poast says. "There's still an immense amount of uncertainty."
