Iran rulers' playing for time is one big reason Trump shouldn't give them any
Hmm: Hours after the world learned that President Donald Trump would take 'up to two weeks' to decide whether to send in US warplanes to drop bunker-busters on Fordow, Tehran's last main nuclear site, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi vomited up some fresh bluster.
That makes it obvious the regime intends to just string this out for as long as possible, hoping that Europe and/or Congress will somehow get Trump to tell Israel to stop its campaign.
Which means the president needs to pay even more heed to the risks of holding off on a decisive intervention.
That includes not just the possible loss of public support that's built over the last week, but the chance that some unforeseen development will raise the stakes beyond a straightforward strike on a single nuke site.
To be clear, Trump can still hope for a negotiated end to Iran's nuclear program, but Araqchi's ploy reeks of the same bogus game that Hamas has been playing ever since the end of the Gaza ceasefire the prez imposed as he was taking office.
A game the Iranian was plainly pushing as he met Friday in Geneva with a passel of European diplos trying to 'de-escalate' the conflict.
Meanwhile, some in Congress are maneuvering to tie Trump's hands, insisting he shouldn't act without votes in the House and Sente explicitly authorizing any strikes — a precedent that would likely permanently limit not just this president, but all future holders of the Oval Office.
For what it's worth, Trump plainly isn't holding off only because the ayatollah might see reason: He's also considering the full impact of a US strike, and seeing what else may develop.
For example: Maybe Israel can take out Fordow without our help, whether with repeated waves of smaller bombs or (conceivably) the most ambitious commando raid ever.
He's reportedly also worried about Iran descending into total chaos, as Libya did after President Barack Obama arrogantly decided he could show the world how 'regime change' should be done.
Yet that raises another angle that argues against Trump taking his time: Israel's ongoing total humiliation of the Islamic Republic's rulers (and its killing of many of them) could trigger a Libya-style 'regime collapse' even without a Fordow takeout.
So a fast elimination of all Tehran's nuclear assets, allowing Israel to stand down, is arguably the best hope for the region to stabilize.
Khamenei and his advisers care only about protecting their own power, so they'll use every hour Trump gives them searching for some way out of the trap they put themselves in by ignoring Trump's last deadline.
Trump has to look at the bigger picture, including the risks (seen and unseen) of letting Tehran keep playing games.
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