The U.S. and Israel No Longer Have the Same Interests in Iran

Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor argues that Trump has no good options in Iran and that the United States and Israel’s interests are increasingly diverging in this war.

You can watch this episode of Right Now With Perry Bacon above or by following this show on YouTube or Substack. You can read a transcript here.

The war between the United States and Israel and Iran has now lasted a month. The Trump administration is negotiating with Iran to end the war, but also threatening a major escalation if no agreement is reached. Ishaan Tharoor, a veteran foreign affairs journalist, says that the United States may now be in a “quagmire.” It will be hard for President Trump to accomplish what seemed to be his goals at the start of the conflict, ensuring a more American-friendly leadership runs Iran and completely eliminating any chance that Iran could maintain a nuclear weapons program. There is now a new complication in the war, according to Tharoor: America and Israel’s interests are no longer aligned. Tharoor says Israel would probably be fine with continuing the current conflict for months. But Trump never intended to fight an extended war with Iran, particularly one that involves ground troops. And the war is deeply unpopular and dragging down his already dismal poll numbers. Tharoor says that this war may be a turning point in world affairs: the moment that crystalizes for people abroad that not only is the United States not a force for good in the world, but that it actively makes things worse. Tharoor invoked the idea of the United States as a “predatory hegomon,” borrowing from an recent essay written by foreign affairs expert Stephen Walt.

Right Now With Perry Bacon is a twice-weekly show about national politics with a focus on the radicalism of the Trump administration and tactics to combat it. The program, hosted by New Republic staff writer Perry Bacon on Substack, features in-depth discussions with experts and politicians. It goes beyond the daily headlines to explain why things are happening and put them in a broader context.

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