Trump’s threatened strikes to force an Iran deal risk backfiringAn anti-US mural on a building in Tehran in January. (Photo: WANA/Reuters)NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump said he is considering limited military strikes to pressure Iran into signing a new nuclear deal, but bombing the country may have the opposite effect, risking a new destabilizing conflict in the Middle East. Yet Trump and other administration officials have given conflicting public accounts of what they actually want from a new deal with Tehran. And Iran experts argue that bombing the country in the middle of negotiations might derail a deal, and could prompt a deadly cycle of retaliation. Trump now seems to be pushing for a limited nuclear deal, despite in his first term repudiating the 2015 Iran deal negotiated during the Obama administration - a withdrawal that may make big, upfront concessions from Tehran even less likely.

Source: Bangkok Post February 22, 2026 12:35 UTC