Antony Blinken Attacks Trump’s Iran Strikes While Taking Credit for Them

The editorial staff at the New York Times should have saved Antony Blinken from himself. In a Tuesday op-ed, Joe Biden’s secretary of state issued a confused verdict on Donald Trump’s contributions to Israel’s war against Iran’s nuclear program. In it, he condemned its presumed failures while also taking credit for its manifest successes.

“First, it never should have come to this,” Blinken insisted. From this lament, he launched into a familiar defense of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was, Blinken alleged, an airtight seal on Iran’s nuclear ambitions that somehow also allowed Iran to experiment with advanced and efficient nuclear centrifuges — setting itself up to break out with nuclear capability after it had spent ten years building its forces and bilking funds out of the West.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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The editorial staff at the New York Times should have saved Antony Blinken from himself. In a Tuesday op-ed, Joe Biden’s secretary of state issued a confused verdict on Donald Trump’s contributions to Israel’s war against Iran’s nuclear program. In it, he condemned its presumed failures while also taking credit for its manifest successes.

“First, it never should have come to this,” Blinken insisted. From this lament, he launched into a familiar defense of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was, Blinken alleged, an airtight seal on Iran’s nuclear ambitions that somehow also allowed Iran to experiment with advanced and efficient nuclear centrifuges — setting itself up to break out with nuclear capability after it had spent ten years building its forces and bilking funds out of the West.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.