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At every fork in the road on Iran, Trump's choices get worse

CNN · back to the audit

President Donald Trump has arrived at yet another fork in the road on Iran. But each time he reaches such a point, his options only become more narrow and the costs of any course of action grow. The Trump administration explained Sunday that a pause in air strikes -- now in its third night, after 13 straight nights of attacks -- was meant to create space for diplomacy. Trump finds himself back in a familiar spot. He's tried to coerce Iranian concessions with intensified attacks. But this plan is not working any better now that it did after the initial round of fighting. Nearly five months into a war he'd said would take a few weeks, Trump keeps trying to create maneuvering space against Tehran. But all the strategy seems to do is leave him with less room and worse choices.