Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (D) told Fox News on Sunday it could be “a very long time” before the Iran war comes to an end — but that is because President Donald Trump has all the leverage, he argued.

Issa was asked about the war during an interview with Peter Doocy on The Sunday Briefing.

“How long until the war is officially, officially over?” Doocy asked.

“It could be a very long time,” Issa said. “But you know, when somebody can’t breath and they want to slow down how fast they make a deal, the person who’s breathing just fine says, ‘Okay, I’ll keep you dunked underwater until you’re ready. If you want to last longer, great.'”

Issa continued:

That’s what President Trump is doing as we speak. He’s taking advantage of the fact that they’re suffering — we’re not. They’re dealing with significant problems, we only have to try to boost our oil and natural gases to help the Europeans.

By comparison, we’re dealing only with higher prices for a time. They’re dealing with an existential threat to their regime.

His answer comes a week after Trump said the U.S. and Iran’s theocratic regime had made significant progress on a deal — and suggested an agreement was imminent.

“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump posted on May 23. “In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

A final agreement still remains in limbo, though. Trump debated a deal towards the end of last week, but ultimately decided the current framework was not good enough. The president has remained steadfast that any deal would guarantee Iran stops pursuing a nuclear weapon, among other details he wants included.

Trump told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump on her Fox News program on Saturday night that if negotiations fall apart, he will look to “end it a different way.” 

Watch above via Fox News.

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