In Iran, then-President Mohammad Khatami, a political moderate, offered what might have been a reasonable deal to curb the country’s nuclear program. But Bush and his team preferred to pressure Iran with sanctions and military threats, and any hope for a negotiated solution vanished when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad succeeded Khatami in 2005.
伊朗时任总统穆罕默德·哈塔米在政治上相对温和，提出了一份原本可能是遏制该国核计划的合理方案。但布什及其团队更愿意用制裁和军事威胁对伊朗施压，2005年内贾德接替哈塔米后任何谈判解决的希望也随之烟消云散。只有当另一位温和派总统鲁哈尼于2013年继任才又恢复了谈判解决的希望。