Iran had failed on every front, but its supreme leader kept bluffing. He didn’t fool Trump.
This is the ayatollah’s war. Now as in June, the pileup of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s mistakes served President Trump a strategic opportunity too inviting to pass up. On Saturday, Khamenei paid with his life.
The proximate error came during negotiations, in which Iran all but announced it still wants to pursue nuclear weapons. What else was Mr. Trump supposed to conclude from Iran’s evasions?
No more domestic enrichment of uranium for nuclear fuel, the president said. This was hardly unreasonable; 23 nations operate nuclear power programs by importing enriched uranium. U.S. negotiators even offered to provide Iran the fuel free of charge, a senior administration official said Saturday. Iran balked. Despite vast oil reserves, Iran claimed to need nuclear power and its own enrichment program. For this, it would risk everything.
