Trump’s Iran Nuclear Deal: Republicans Getting Duly Nervous

The Iranian regime is enjoying the air of legitimacy granted to it by the Trump administration’s sudden pivot to direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program. If Steve Witkoff can sit down with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, why can’t American think tanks do the same? Doesn’t the public in an open society have a compelling interest in learning what its adversary has planned for it? It’s a debatable premise. For its part, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace concluded that it could and should press Araghchi to expand on the Iranian regime’s goals in ongoing nuclear talks.

But Jeb Bush was having none of it:

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 Iranian regime is enjoying the air of legitimacy granted to it by the Trump administration’s sudden pivot to direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program. If Steve Witkoff can sit down with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, why can’t American think tanks do the same? Doesn’t the public in an open society have a compelling interest in learning what its adversary has planned for it? It’s a debatable premise. For its part, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace concluded that it could and should press Araghchi to expand on the Iranian regime’s goals in ongoing nuclear talks.

But Jeb Bush was having none of it:

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.