US president is attempting to show that any deal with Iran must be on his terms – and shutting Europe out in processMiddle East crisis – live updatesDiscussing the dilemma facing western diplomats in confronting Iran’s nuclear programme, Henry Kissinger wrote in 2006: “Diplomacy never operates in a vacuum. It persuades not by the eloquence of its practitioners but by assembling a balance of incentives and risks.”Rarely has the balance of incentives and risks been placed so starkly in front of Iran’s leaders as now. Continue reading…