"To see that a new leader has emerged that has a strong intention to strike American bases, to keep American interests out of the region, that is a very tough message," says Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri.
As the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran and the conflict intensified, global leaders gathered in New Delhi to debate what comes next. Harsh Pant and Karim Haggag share the takeaways.
"There’s a real ambiguity here: How closely are the United States and Israel aligned right now?" says Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri. "If the United States were to decide ‘game over, we’re done, we’re sort of withdrawing,’ it’s not at all clear that Israel will follow suit."
"It's absolutely critical that the president speak as a leader, that he accept responsibility, that he apologize, and that he articulate to the American people and to his own troops what's being done to rectify this so that it doesn't happen again," says Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri.
"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.
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.
"If the ambition is regime change, the means that are being used certainly are insufficient to achieve that," Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri says. "Iran has been succession planning for a very long time."
