Q1. The US and Iran are holding formal talks in Obbürgen, Switzerland to reach a deal to end their war. The 60-day negotiating period agreed upon in last week’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries ends Aug 18, though the period can be extended by mutual agreement.

Some US politicians on both sides of the aisle have criticized the MOU as too generous to Iran. In an interview last week after the signing, President Trump defended the deal, saying he was influenced by the stock market’s rise as he worked toward a resolution, and said he didn’t want to be compared with Herbert Hoover, who was president during the 1929 market crash that led to the Great Depression. “Hoover was always the one I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe.”

Was going to war the right decision? Was the economy at risk if war continued? Did Trump place the right amount of importance on the economy in his decision to sign the MOU?

Q2. Some have criticized the MOU because it allows Iran to maintain its arsenal of ballistic and conventional missiles, even though the administration previously cited those missiles as a reason for the war and destroying them as an objective.

War (Defense) Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US eliminated 85% of Iran's missile capabilities, while US intelligence agencies assess the destruction rate to be 30%.

In the interview last week, Trump defended the decision to allow Iran its missiles, saying, “They have to have some, because other people have some. Some say we shouldn’t let them have any, but what am I going to do, let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but Iran can’t. Doesn’t work that way and missiles aren’t the problem. Missiles, they hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.”

Given the status of the war, was Trump right to sign an MOU that allows Iran its missiles?

Q3. Iran's nuclear program has been the most consistently cited reason by the administration for the war, and in the interview President Trump reaffirmed his view that Tehran should never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon.

The President did say, however, that Iran should have the right to enrich uranium, which had up until last week been a red line for his administration. He said that Iran could have its own nuclear program for power, not weapons, and so enrichment would be limited to power use, saying, "It is a little hard that when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense."

Given the status of the war, was Trump right to sign an MOU that allows Iran a nuclear power program?