Consider that at the same time as Bolton was breathing fire, President Trump was tweeting -- albeit to pre-emptively reject an Iranian invitation to meet that was apparently never made -- that he is sure Iranian President Hassan Rouhani "is an absolutely lovely man!" The nuclear deal stemmed from the calculus that the US couldn't really afford a third war in that region. Iran's moderate government, undermined by clumsily-renewed sanctions and the failed promise of a nuclear deal? The nuclear deal is technically alive in all but American hearts. No deal Iran signs now will be better than the it currently already has.

Source: CNN September 26, 2018 10:43 UTC