Trita Parsi

YouTube video by Breaking Points IRAN WAR: Trump RISKS IT ALL For Israel

My full interview with Breaking Points this morning on Trump and Israel's illegal war with Iran:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=37rN...

Norway’s foreign minister says deeply worried about extensive war in Middle East Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on Saturday he was deeply worried that a new, extensive war was starting in the Middle East after Israel

“The attack is described by Israel as a preventive strike, but it is not in line with international law. Preventive attacks require an imminent threat,” Norwegian FM Barth Eide said.

english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2...

Seldom has a vassal state been so loyal to ANOTHER vassal of the actual superpower...

Former official from a key Global South state tells me, regarding Europe's disgraceful reaction to Trump/Israel's illegal war on Iran:

"Double standard as usual. That's why the global south doesn't give a fuck about Europe anymore. Declining continent and declining states."

Another Iranian drone hits the US base in Bahrain, with Bahrainis seemingly celebrating the strike, chanting "Ya Ali!"

This is significant because it foreshadows what will likely happen if the war takes on a religious dimension, such as if Ayatollah Khamenei is assassinated.

The @AJEnglish anchor rightfully says that some aspects of the deal - eg US inspectors in Iran -described by the Omani FM sound "too good to be true."

But they are true and reveal how far Iran has moved to offer a compromise.

But Trump seems to want surrender, not compromise.

Told @AJEnglish that it is difficult to say that Trump actually wants a deal now, given the very attractive deal on the table that he is rejecting. For the duration of Trump's presidency, there would be effectivly no enrichment in Iran.

He is still rejecting it because he wants surrender...

The Omani FM's tweet after briefing JD on the state of Iran talks. The buzz in DC predicts that Trump may start bombing Iran after this briefing is completed.

"Peace is within our reach," the Omani FM writes.

Trump's war with Iran does not make any sense, and that is reflected in the US public overwhelmingly opposing the war. 19 polls have been done - all show that support for war lands between 16-25% at most.

In comparison, 79% of the US public supported Bush's Iraq war...

Since the level of sanctions Iran is under currently is so suffocating, Tehran needs sanctions lifted, not just avoiding new sanctions. And their only leverage to get sanctions lifted is the nuclear program. So why give that up simply to retain the current, unacceptable status quo?

Told @BBCWorld that as long as Trump continues to insist on Iranian surrender based on an erroneous read of Tehran's predicament, and Tehran refuses to engage directly with Trump himself, the risk of war will remain greater than the prospects for a deal.

Trump’s top general foresees acute risks in an attack on Iran The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has said that a lack of munitions and allied support could mean greater danger for U.S. troops, people familiar with the talks say.

Plenty of leaks because inside the gov, opposition to war with Iran is strong

Trump’s top general foresees acute risks in Iran attack

Gen. Dan Caine has cautioned that a lack of munitions and support from allies could mean greater danger for US troops

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Told @AJEnglish that Trump has been sold a narrative by Israel that portrays Iran far weaker than it is, prompting Trump to adopt unrealistic demands. Even if Iran presents a very attractive proposal, Trump may still reject it because he falsely believes that he can do better.

Trump’s Intervention in Iran Will Be a Disaster Iranians have been trying to complete their democratic revolution for over a century. Every time the US gets involved, it sets that project back by decades.

Trump’s Intervention in Iran Will Be a Disaster
Interview with Vivek Chibber

jacobin.com/2026/02/prot...

Tucker completely destroys and exposes Amb. Huckabee in this exchange.

It is shocking to me that Trump doesn't appear to realize how much he has compromised his own agenda by giving such a prominent role to figures whose only agenda appears to be war, war, and more war.

Possible outcomes on U.S. talks concerning Iran's nuclear program NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, about the possible outcomes of the increasingly tense Iran-U.S. nuclear talks.

Spoke to @NPR's @NPRWeekend about the risk of war, why Trump's limited strike option will most likely still lead to a lose-lose extended war, what is happening in the negotiations, and the deepening desperation the Iranian people face. www.npr.org/2026/02/21/n...

No, even a 'small attack' on Iran will lead to war The deal Trump wants is a no-go for Tehran, which is resigned to retaliating if bombed again, limited or otherwise

I explain in this piece for Responsible Statecraft why Trump misreads Iran's position and why Tehran is likely to calculate that capitulating to Trump's deal is riskier than a military confrontation with the US.

responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-iran-s...

“Just flatten it [Gaza]. We flattened Berlin. We flattened Tokyo.”

Lindsey Graham compares October 7 with WWII.

This is the extreme "logic" you have to use to justify genocide and to promote forever wars.

When George W. Bush started his war of choice with Iraq in 2003, he had the support of 79% of Americans.

The war still destroyed his presidency.

In comparison, Trump only has the support of 18% of Americans for his and Israel's war of choice with Iran.

Huckabee - America's Ambassador to Israel - is quick to take Israel's side against Tucker Carlson. And AIPAC, of course, retweets Huckabee.

(Tucker says he was detained by Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion Airport; the Israelis say they only asked him routine questions)

This would avoid a very costly and unpredictable war in the Middle East - the exact kind of war he promised his voters he would never start.

To make diplomacy successful, Trump needs to return to his original red line of no nuclear weapons rather than the Israeli red lines that were designed to make talks fail and corner Trump into war.

>>

Told @NewsNation that a military threat can help diplomacy. But Trump is overdoing it. Instead of a diplomatic strategy with a military component, he has turned it into a military strategy with a diplomatic element. It doesn't help evade war, rather, it makes war more likely.

Told @democracynow that both Iran and the US believe that a short and intense war can improve their negotiation position. The US believes its overwhelming military force will win the day. Iran believes Trump cannot afford anything that isn't a quick and glorious victory.

“Whether they disregarded Rubio’s parameters, did not understand them, or simply found it unimportant because Europe desires to be a junior partner to the United States regardless of the parameters, remains to be seen,” he said. >>

Parsi pointed to the standing ovation at the conference that followed Rubio’s speech, simply for offering to remain partners with Europe. >>

“[Or] Europe can continue on its current path in which it subordinates itself slowly but surely fully to Washington’s interests, priorities, impulses, and ideas about civilisational empire,” he told Al Jazeera.
>>

Marco Rubio wants to build a ‘new Western century’. Will Europe join? Europe is facing a great dilemma: Continue with liberalist values or embrace Trump's defence of 'Western civilisation'?

All this ultimately means that “Europe has a choice to make,” said Parsi. “It can pursue strategic autonomy and seek to find a balance between the great powers, and within that seek a dignified partnership with America in which it is not subjugated into vassalage>>

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

The risk of war between the US and Iran is dramatically increased because of a belief on both sides that a short and intense war will improve their negotiating positions...

But the Houthis never killed an American soldier. We do not know how Trump would react if a large number of American soldiers were killed.