Why ending the war in Iran is getting harder
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
Despite mixed messaging on the aims of the war, President Trump says he will decide when the conflict is over.
But not everyone thinks it will be that easy.
Thomas Wright served as senior director for strategic planning at the National Security Council under President Biden. In a recent article in The Atlantic, he argues that any off-ramp in Iran is disappearing, and increases the risk that the US will be involved in a prolonged conflict.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's been 10 days now since President Trump said that the war in Iran was, quote, very complete, pretty much. |
| 0:06.4 | We could call it a tremendous success right now, as we leave here, I could call it, or we could go further, and we're going to go further. |
| 0:14.7 | I could call it. That is an idea that the Trump administration has repeatedly asserted over nearly three weeks of war in Iran, |
| 0:22.4 | even as Iran launched attacks throughout the region, on U.S. military bases, on energy infrastructure, |
| 0:28.3 | and on cities like Riyadh and Dubai, even as Iran brought shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz |
| 0:34.1 | to a screeching halt and sent oil prices soaring. |
| 0:40.0 | Over the past week, President Trump has said that the war would be wrapped up soon. |
| 0:44.9 | And we're going to have a much safer world when it's wrapped up. |
| 0:47.9 | That this little excursion, as President Trump calls it, would not go on much longer. |
| 0:53.0 | Way ahead of schedule, nobody would have thought. |
| 0:55.6 | And that the war would end when he feels it in his bones. |
| 1:02.5 | Consider this. President Trump keeps saying that the war will be over soon. |
| 1:06.8 | That may no longer be strictly under his control. |
| 1:14.1 | From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. |
| 1:25.7 | It's consider this from NPR. At the moment, the U.S.-Israel war with Iran looks more like it's escalating than slowing down. |
| 1:34.0 | On Wednesday, Israel attacked a crucial Iranian natural gas field. Iran responded Thursday with a strike on the world's biggest liquefied natural gas complex in Qatar. |
| 1:44.6 | And at a press briefing Thursday, defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed reporting that the Pentagon would seek additional funding for the war. |
| 1:52.2 | As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously. |
| 1:57.8 | It takes money to kill bad guys. |
| 2:01.3 | But he said that any assertion that the mission was widening was, quote, noise. |
| 2:06.2 | And Hexath reiterated the administration's position that President Trump himself would decide when the war is finished. |
| 2:14.2 | It will be at the president's choosing, ultimately, where we say, hey, we've achieved |
... |
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