Is a ground invasion of some description looming.

Of course, we're talking here about US troops.

Iran.

Troops are heading to the Middle East in their thousands.

Donald Trump is claiming, of course, that the Iranians are begging for negotiations and so on.

Doesn't seem to be quite brought out by reality or not least strategic reality.

Got lots to talk about with the really brilliant analyst, C.A.2c.

He's a Iranian-American analyst, but also senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

We've had on before and everyone always hugely appreciates your analysis.

So it's great to see you again.

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for your kind where it's really

happy to be back on. Always. Okay, let's just start with this, the troops. Do you think,

I mean, that's where this is heading because the only way Trump thinks he can, well, he's stuck

as me in the sense, he's stuck between accepting

a strategic catastrophe militarily for the United States. He can't just walk away because

the Gulf of Hummers is closed and can't obviously allow the economic damage to continue,

as you would see it there. But so then he thinks he has to escalate it with ground sheep.

Do you think that's where this is heading?

Yeah, I mean, Trump, I mean, it's very scary because if he does choose to escalate to ground invasion of Iran, that's not going to make this easier for him.

I don't think that's going to give him the leverage he thinks he may give him to get Iran to concede on the straight of formal moves. It's just, it's more going to be him

doubling down on this failed policy and this failed war, where it was launched on a bunch of deeply

flawed assumptions about Iran, about the viability and durability of the Iranian government, of its ability to retaliate.

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