Analysis: Trump is stuck in Iran. Here’s one idea that could offer a way out | CNN Politics

The US war in Iran is in desperate need of new thinking. Despite new US strikes Wednesday following President Donald Trump’s f-bomb warning that Iran is due another “beating,” he has yet to show he can blast Tehran back to talks. But diplomacy that he hailed as bringing historic peace to the Middle East also failed when a vaguely worded memorandum of understanding collapsed. And his options for changing the equation — risking the lives of hundreds of US troops in a ground war or recognizing Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz — are so unpalatable that the phrase “no good options” has become a cliche. “We are really in a fix,” said Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia Engagement at the US-based Defense Priorities think tank. The costs of the Iran war are not confined to the participants. The political and economic backlash is mounting in the Middle East and Europe — escalating pressure on outside parties to try to jolt diplomacy into life. If the strait remains a no-go zone for most civilian ships, grave reverberations from the war will get worse, as global oil reserves erode, the prices of oil-based products like diesel and fertilizer spike, and a potential l