Video: Fareed Zakaria Tells CNN the Iran Blockade Is 'Working Well,' Says Trump Seems Reluctant to Close a Deal and the Midterms Show This Is 'a War to Settle'
A 1 minute 41 second CNN clip posted by Breitbart with a transcript. Zakaria says both sides overplayed their hands and expects a settlement. We relied on the transcript, not the video.
Breitbart posted a clip of CNN host and Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria discussing the Iran war on Wednesday. We relied on Breitbart's written transcript, not the video. The speaker is a critic of the war, and Breitbart's headline says Trump is "pushing advantage too much."
The blockade. Zakaria said "the blockade on Iran is working well. The Iranians are squeezed. They've been coming forward with proposals, and Trump seems to be reluctant." He said each side, when it holds the advantage, hesitates to close the deal because it thinks it can press further.
Trump and the war. Zakaria said the reasoning for starting the war, after saying Iran's nuclear program had been obliterated less than a year earlier, "doesn't make sense." He also said he thinks Trump "has actually been searching for a way to settle it" and wants to claim he won, which Zakaria called hard to do because the claim "wouldn't be an accurate statement." He noted the memorandum of understanding, and said Trump has threatened a lot of force in recent weeks but has not used it.
Both sides. In his telling, "both sides overplayed their hand." When the Iranians had the advantage, their demands escalated and no deal was possible.
The midterms. Zakaria said he suspects the war will be resolved, because "if the midterms showed anything, this is not a war to escalate. This is a war to settle."
Why it matters here. Republicans have been arguing over whether the war cost them the election. Zakaria, a critic of the war, says the blockade has given Trump leverage and that the midterms are a reason to settle rather than escalate. Our earlier coverage carries Trump's own words on ending the war.
What we could not check. We did not watch the video, so we cannot judge tone or what came before or after. Breitbart's text does not say what the Iranian proposals are. Zakaria's claims that Iran is "squeezed" and has made proposals are his view, not something Breitbart or we verified.