War has given Iran new leverage for nuclear programme, say US former envoys

Negotiators of 2015 deal say Tehran has seen how cutting off Hormuz strait can help it counter asymmetry of power Middle East crisis – live updates Former US envoys who dealt with Iran have said that the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz have given Iran new tools and resolve to resist pressure to shutter its nuclear programme. Two senior negotiators for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, said the Trump administration’s war had handed Iran a coveted weapon by demonstrating its ability to cut off the strait of Hormuz, an economic chokehold that one negotiator said would help Iran “balance the asymmetry of power” with the US. Continue reading...

Andrew Roth in Washington · Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 3:51 AM
US news | The Guardian

War has given Iran new leverage for nuclear programme, say US former envoys

Negotiators of 2015 deal say Tehran has seen how cutting off Hormuz strait can help it counter asymmetry of power

Middle East crisis – live updates

Former US envoys who dealt with Iran have said that the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz have given Iran new tools and resolve to resist pressure to shutter its nuclear programme.

Two senior negotiators for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, said the Trump administration’s war had handed Iran a coveted weapon by demonstrating its ability to cut off the strait of Hormuz, an economic chokehold that one negotiator said would help Iran “balance the asymmetry of power” with the US.

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