Trump faces a major Iran decision: From the Politics Desk

This is the online version of From the political officea daily newsletter bringing you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Andrea Mitchell lays out what’s at stake for the United States and Iran after a round of nuclear negotiations. Plus, Alexandra Marquez reports on the latest state joining the mid-decade redistricting battle.

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—Adam Wollner

Trump faces major decision as Iran talks yield little progress

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

President Donald Trump faces a major decision over whether to take military action against Iran.

It has a lot of firepower in the region: an aircraft carrier and a second on the way, as well as combat planes and air defense systems. Previously reluctant Arab allies now tell NBC News they just want to make sure they are protected against Iran’s planned retaliatory missile strikes. This would require a joint U.S.-Israeli operation to destroy Iran’s launchers and reconstitute the missile program, which the secretary of state has proposed. Marco Rubio Recent testimony could target 40,000 US troops in the region, as well as US allies.

The alternative is diplomacy, with preliminary indirect talks held yesterday in Geneva – with each side exchanging proposals with Oman as intermediary. Trump envoys, long-time friends Steve Wittkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushnerled US side against veteran Iranian diplomat, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. Afterward, both sides said they had made some progress in three hours.

But no one claims they have narrowed the gaps on major issues. Officials say Iran has refused to even compromise on what is negotiable. vice-president J.D. Vance told Fox News: “It was very clear that the president has set red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to recognize and cross. »

According to several U.S. officials, Trump’s red lines include banning or severely curtailing Iran’s enrichment of uranium, the fuel needed for possible weapons, as well as limiting Iran’s missile program. The White House also wants to end Iran’s support for mandated terrorist groups.

So far, missile negotiations have been unsuccessful for Iran. As negotiations began, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneicategorically ruled out any concessions on the missiles, in effect saying that the program was none of the United States’ business.

While most Democratic senators at the Munich Security Conference last weekend said military action against Iran could lead to chaos, Sen. Lindsey GrahamRS.C., told NBC News it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rid of what he calls “a murderous regime.” He said he made the same argument to the president.

It was also Graham’s rallying cry to the 250,000 Iranian expatriates in Munich calling for regime change on Saturday. He told NBC News he hoped the Munich rally, as well as similar rallies last weekend in Bucharest, Toronto and Los Angeles, would encourage Iran’s opposition movement to continue taking to the streets – despite the brutal crackdown in December and January.

From Munich, Graham went to coordinate the strategy in Israel, including the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the White House last week to discuss military options with Trump. Graham then traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, trying to build more support for regime change in Tehran.

Rubio is now expected to travel to Israel on February 28 to meet with Netanyahu, a State Department official confirmed to NBC News.

According to a diplomatic source, no one can predict what Trump will decide. But the source told NBC News: “Iran is now at its weakest politically and economically. The regime no longer has legitimacy after its brutal crackdown on protesters.” The source added: “If the president does not take military action after deploying so much firepower in the region, he will appear weak. He cannot afford not to.”

Colorado becomes latest state to jump into redistricting fight

Colorado is jumping into the national redistricting battle, with a new group aiming beyond this year’s midterm elections.

The newly formed Coloradans for a Level Playing Field party today launched an effort to place a measure on the November ballot that would allow Democrats to bypass the independent commission that controls the state’s redistricting process and implement a friendlier map for the 2028 and 2030 elections. Alexandra Marquez reports.

The group is proposing several ballot measures that would require voter approval. The ultimate goal is to achieve a Colorado map that would create seven Democratic-leaning districts and one Republican-leaning district for the next two election cycles, then reimpose the independent redistricting commission after the 2030 census. The state’s congressional delegation is currently split evenly between the two parties.

The group will need to gather about 125,000 signatures for one of the initiatives in order to qualify for the ballot.

Expanding Battlefield: Colorado’s campaign is the latest sign that the unusually aggressive mid-decade redistricting fight is not about to end. Six states implemented new maps last year ahead of midterm elections where control of the closely divided House is at stake.

Next April, Virginia voters will decide whether to approve a Democratic plan to redraw a map, while Florida Republicans are expected to take up redistricting in a special legislative session.

Democrats also continue to push for new congressional lines that would eliminate Maryland’s only Republican-held district. But efforts have stalled in the state Senate, where the Democratic leader Bill Ferguson said there wasn’t enough support. After meeting with Ferguson in Maryland today, House Minority Leader Hakeem JeffriesDN.Y., encouraged him in a statement to take an up-or-down vote on the map the state House passed earlier this month.

That’s all that’s coming from the politburo for now. Today’s newsletter was written by Adam Wollner.

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