Turns out having nukes provided the US very little leverage

For decades, the United States treated the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon as an intolerable threat. Yet when Washington and Tehran went to war twice in roughly a year, America’s own nuclear arsenal provided remarkably little leverage. In June 2025, the United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated against Israeli territory and a U.S. air base in Qatar. The following year, a far larger U.S.-Israeli campaign killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Source: Responsible Statecraft