{"id":1323,"date":"2026-06-28T15:22:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T15:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/?p=1323"},"modified":"2026-06-28T15:22:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T15:22:49","slug":"americas-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel<\/h2>\n

America\u2019s Iran debate continues to revolve around a familiar binary: engagement or confrontation. Across administrations, congressional hearings, and think tank circles, these poles define the limits of policy thinking. Yet this framework no longer reflects either Iran\u2019s internal trajectory or the strategic realities of the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Read the full article on\u00a0The Times of Israel<\/a><\/p>\n

\"America\u2019s
By Raghu Kondori, in The Times of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,12,15,25,271],"class_list":["post-1323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-america","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-raghu-kondori","tag-the-times-of-israel"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerica\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shahvand think tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ShahvandIran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ShahvandIran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a\"},\"headline\":\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":94,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TOI-Trump.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"America\",\"Iran\",\"Israel\",\"Raghu Kondori\",\"The Times of Israel\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Essay\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/\",\"name\":\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TOI-Trump.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TOI-Trump.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/TOI-Trump.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":653},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/americas-iran\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u062e\u0627\u0646\u0647\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shahvand think tank\",\"description\":\"Shah, Homeland, Freedom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shahvand think tank\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Shahvand think tank\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/raghukondori\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ShahvandIran\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank","description":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank","og_description":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel","og_url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/","og_site_name":"Shahvand think tank","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori","article_published_time":"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":653,"url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ShahvandIran","twitter_site":"@ShahvandIran","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a"},"headline":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice","datePublished":"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/"},"wordCount":94,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","keywords":["America","Iran","Israel","Raghu Kondori","The Times of Israel"],"articleSection":["Essay"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/","name":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice - Shahvand think tank","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-28T15:22:49+00:00","description":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice. By Raghu Kondori | Shahvand Think Tank, in The Times of Israel","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","width":1200,"height":653},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/americas-iran\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u062e\u0627\u0646\u0647","item":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"America\u2019s Iran Debate Is Based on a False Choice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/","name":"Shahvand think tank","description":"Shah, Homeland, Freedom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization","name":"Shahvand think tank","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Shahvand think tank"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori","https:\/\/x.com\/ShahvandIran"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a","name":"admin","sameAs":["https:\/\/shahvand.org"],"url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/TOI-Trump.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1325,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions\/1325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}