The two men—the older one from glitzy Manhattan, the younger upstart from fashionably upmarket Brooklyn—have built formidable fanbases by championing diametrically opposed visions of America.
Washington now faces choices: proceed with the deal and adjust its conception of alliances in the region or succumb to legislative stagnation and reject or downgrade the deal.
While Washington claims Tehran desires an agreement, Iran insists no dialogue will take place without the lifting of sanctions and guarantees respecting its nuclear rights.
The reconciliation culminated in Al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House last week, the first by a Syrian president, and the announcement that Syria had become the 90th member of the US-led Global Coalition Against Daesh.