The analogy I’ve used is it’s this cocked pistol. It’s like a cocked pistol aimed at Iran. And the other thing that I would say about this is there’s another factor hovering over in the background here. And that other factor is that I think Donald Trump feels like he has a really good track record at dealing with Iran aggressively. And that all adds up to, it’s starting to feel, I’m not going to say inevitable, but it’s starting to feel imminent.

Source: New York Times February 23, 2026 17:46 UTC