As a fragile cease-fire holds between the United States and Iran, negotiators remain deadlocked over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program. Both sides entered the talks convinced that they had prevailed in what Iranians now call the “third imposed war,” reducing incentives for compromise and reinforcing maximalist positions. All the while, the issue that has shaped U.S.-Iran relations for more than two decades—uranium enrichment on Iranian soil—remains intractable. Operation Epic Fury, as the