It’s fair to say that both Trump and the Iranians believe that it is. In Trump’s case, he thinks that “maximum pressure” will ultimately force the Iranians to choose between capitulation and regime change; for the Iranians, the hope is that a Democrat will win in November and offer to bring back the nuclear agreement.
Both sides can’t be right, but both could be wrong. In Trump’s case, the examples of Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela aren’t exactly encouraging. The Iranians, of course, could be betting on the wrong horse in the election. Then what?
Given a choice between peaceful surrender and war, which do you think they’ll pick?