Goldberg: Do you believe there’s any condition in which Barack Obama would use force against Iran?

Cotton: I hope there are conditions under which the leaders of Iran and most Middle Eastern leaders think that the United States would take military action against Iran. But Iran does not believe that America has a credible threat of force against them right now. I think that’s clear from their behavior. It’s also something that senior Arab leaders have communicated directly to me—that very few people, if any, in the Middle East believe that there is a credible threat of force by the United States. I think Iran does fear that Israel may strike them. To the extent that there is daylight between the United States and Israel—to use the president’s term from 2009—it makes the threat of Israeli military action less credible in the leaders of Iran’s minds. So I do think that there may be some policy objective in trying to create this kind of daylight with the government of Israel, to further dissuade their leadership from taking action if they deem it necessary to their national survival.

Goldberg: What conditions do you believe would have to obtain before Barack Obama would use military force against Iran?

Cotton: Right now I’d say they’d have to be very severe. If that Iranian naval fleet mined or otherwise blocked traffic through the Strait [of Hormuz], I hope that we would take prompt action to reopen it and punish them appropriately. But that’s about as severe as it gets in international relations.