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Trump’s strategy on Iran may be paying off

Through far-sighted diplomacy and a durable new regional architecture, Trump has cornered Iran between alignment and atrophy.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport on Aug. 2, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey.
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport on Aug. 2, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey. — Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump’s strategy has been a case study in statecraft and diplomacy — patient, far-sighted diplomacy, in close coordination with America’s allies and partners in the region. 

This path is not born of disrespect to Iran or its people; it is diplomacy in the language of the IRGC — an attempt to navigate a viable new paradigm for Iran and the region.

That far-sighted diplomacy includes a long game, one often overlooked in mainstream reporting: the deliberate construction of a durable economic and security architecture that offers every actor in the region — Iran included — a clear choice between aligning with the emerging order and atrophying outside it.

Central to that architecture is the president’s bold alignment with three pivotal leaders — Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

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