Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said Americans are feeling increasingly frustrated with the Iran war timeline, while stressing that the country should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.
“I think a lot of people may have the attitude of kind of, ‘Why don’t you call me when you get something settled?’” York said Monday on the Hugh Hewitt Show.
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York criticized President Donald Trump for repeatedly adjusting his timeline for closing a deal with Iran.
“The president has seemed a little desperate to get a settlement here,” York said. “But I think the one thing to do is to go stick with the core goal here, the core demand here, which is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
York argued that Trump wants to open the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible. He said Trump estimated that blocking the strait is costing Iran $500 million per day.
“The president has praised the blockade as the Americans’ basically ‘premier instrument’ in putting pressure on Iran,” York said.
However, he highlighted that opening the strait now would be to the detriment of the United States.
“If you lift the blockade, you’re giving them $500 million in relief per day, and I think that enormously reduces the incentive for Iran to then go on to a nuclear agreement,” York said. “I still have not seen anything that makes me think Iran is really serious about the kind of nuclear agreement that Trump is demanding.”
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York said in the long run, guaranteeing Iran does not have nuclear weapons is key, but that it may not be the end of the problem.
“I don’t think there’s a forever solution to that problem,” he said. “I think you set them back 10 years and you keep an eye on them, and then set them back again later on if you have to.”
