Iran and US Rely on Shifting Leverage to Exchange Messages

Iran and the United States use their respective sources of leverage to signal their positions, with the strength of those assets rising and falling as events unfold.

That shifting balance shapes how the two sides manage their confrontation. An advantage at one stage may carry less weight later, changing the room each side has to press its demands.

The same dynamic applies to dialogue. Talks are not separate from the contest for leverage; they are another setting in which both sides seek to turn their strengths into influence.

The exchange of messages between Tehran and Washington therefore depends on more than the language each uses. It also reflects the changing weight of the cards they hold, both in managing tensions and in pursuing discussions.