No country ever went into a bargaining session with less leverage yet emerged with greater rewards than Iran has just done. The regime was close to collapse economically, socially, and militarily, but President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding rescued it and gave it new life.

The first stage of Operation Epic Fury was brilliantly conceived and executed, and its resounding success meant that Trump then held all the cards. There followed two months of dithering during which our advantage gradually diminished as Iran repeatedly violated the ceasefire while we mostly pretended that they didn’t. Now we have a deal that has even Trump’s strongest supporters (and I’m one of them) alarmed.