Knock Out the Launcher, Keep the Phone Line Open: Trump's Iran Play Is Peace Through Strength

U.S. forces knocked out an Iranian air-defense site "in about 15 minutes, maybe five." The same night, the president said Washington has made "a lot of progress" with Tehran. Critics call that mixed signals. It is the oldest formula in American statecraft.

By Clara Hughes

Three days after a bruising midterm, President Donald Trump did two things on the same Friday that his critics insist cannot go together: American forces struck Iranian air defenses near the Strait of Hormuz, and he told reporters Tehran is ready to deal. "We do minor strikes, but they knock out," Trump said after landing in West Palm Beach, Florida, CNBC and Fox News reported. "They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device, and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five." In the same remarks, as Al Jazeera and the AP reported, he said: "We're dealing with them now. They want to make a deal," and "We've made a lot of progress with Iran." That is not confusion. That is leverage, used in the right order. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: what actually happened on Qeshm Island and what is still unconfirmed, the Iranian preconditions Washington is being asked to swallow, what