Wendy Sherman: “We Lost the Iran War” | Trump's New Deal Explained

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, the lead negotiator of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), says the United States "lost" the Iran war and gave Tehran major concessions in President Trump's new agreement. Sherman joins Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer to break down the deal, explain why she believes Iran emerged with greater leverage, and assess what comes next for Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief, Israel, and the broader Middle East. Drawing on years of direct negotiations with Iranian officials, she compares the painstaking diplomacy behind the original Iran nuclear deal with the Trump administration's approach and warns that "when you read the words of what was just agreed to, it's horrifying what we gave up." Topics covered: • Why Sherman believes Iran came out ahead • The future of Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief • What the deal means for Israel and the Middle East • Whether diplomacy still works in today's world Jake and Jon also react to the agreement, discuss whether it can survive the next phase of negotiations, and examine what it could mean for Russia, Ukraine, and oil prices. They also preview a story on the growing national security debate surrounding Anthropic and frontier AI models. Subscribe to The Long Game for weekly conversations on national security, foreign policy, and the forces shaping the world. Follow The Long Game so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop weekly. New episodes drop weekly — follow The Long Game on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://pod.link/1850526014 Subscribe to The Long Game on Substack for exclusive video segments, transcripts, and more. This week Jake and Jon share behind-the-scenes anecdotes from their time negotiating the 2015 Iran deal. Follow The Long Game on socials: Instagram:   / podlonggame   TikTok:   / podlonggame   #iran #Trump #IranDeal #MiddleEast #ForeignPolicy #NationalSecurity #WendySherman #geopolitics Photo credits: Switzerland-Iran-Nuclear Politics US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) walks back to his hotel with US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman (C) and Chief of Staff Jon Finer (2nd L) after a lunch following a negotiating session with Iran's Foreign Minister over Iran's nuclear program in Lausanne March 20, 2015. AFP PHOTO / POOL / BRIAN SNYDER (Photo credit should read BRIAN SNYDER/AFP via Getty Images)