President Trump has a tough road ahead of him when it comes to keeping Iran in check, according to Chris Stirewalt.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats want to see an armed conflict with Tehran, but the president can still use sanctions to curb potential threats, Stirewalt claimed Monday on "Special Report."
"The political calculation here for the president -- and he obviously responded to this when the Iranians shot down the U.S. drone -- there is no political will or appetite in the United States for any kind of a major confrontation with Iran," he said.
"It's just not there. Not with Republicans, not with Democrats, not with anybody. So, while the administration can talk tough and certainly apply the sanctions effectively, an escalation from here on in is a really politically dubious proposition."
IRAN ANNOUNCES HIGHER ENRICHMENT LEVELS SET BY 2015 NUCLEAR DEAL
Furthermore, the Fox News politics editor claimed Trump's treatment of Iran has been similar to that of Pyongyang.
"This president, as he's demonstrated with North Korea, does not want to be in a position where he is seen as escalating tensions on the world stage like this," he said.
"It's a tough play."
Earlier Monday, Iran said it has surpassed uranium enrichment levels set by the 2015 nuclear deal but did not specify how much farther they would rise, according to reports.
The announcement, which was first made on Iran's state-run news agency, marks a major reversal from the terms set by the deal, which promised eased sanctions in exchange for the country scaling back its nuclear ambitions.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said the country has passed the 3.67 percent uranium enrichment cap imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal and may proceed further, Reuters reported.
Iran's earlier announcement that it would boost uranium enrichment above the cap prompted a rebuke from President Trump on Sunday
“Iran better be careful. Iran is doing a lot of bad things,” the president said. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon."
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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