On Saturday, The New York Times reported that some government officials now acknowledge that the strike that took out Iranian General Qassim Suleimani did not achieve the strategic objective that President Donald Trump was hoping for.

“Mr. Trump is trying to manage his own response to the worsening coronavirus crisis, even as his administration continues to wage its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign of economic warfare and diplomatic pressure against Iran,” said the report. “Some American officials now admit that the killing of General Suleimani has not — as some had hoped — led Iran and its proxies to think twice about fomenting violence inside Iraq and elsewhere.”

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The strike, carried out in January, brought Iran and the United States to the brink of war — a potentially disastrous outcome that was just barely avoided.

Iran is currently dealing with its own catastrophic outbreak of coronavirus, so severe that satellite photography appears to show Iranian officials digging trenches for the bodies. As a consequence, many in the Trump administration believe they are at a weak point that can be exploited.

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