President Donald Trump says he wants a deal, not a war, with Tehran. “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he wrote last week on Truth Social.

He had better act fast. Negotiating an accord that constrains Iran’s nuclear energy program will take time. The one that President Barack Obama got took 20 months to negotiate, and forces opposing diplomacy may grow stronger in the months and years ahead. Meanwhile, Trump’s own position likely will diminish. Second-term presidents quickly learn that their political capital no longer accumulates—it dwindles.

Today Trump dominates the GOP, but on Iran, neocons are breaking ranks. “In my humble opinion, there is no such thing as a verifiable nuclear peace agreement with the Iranian Regime, who are religious Nazis,” Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X. Graham’s post came mere hours after Trump endorsed such an agreement. 

If the president intends to pursue diplomacy with Iran, he should act while his approval ratings among Republicans are sky-high, and he should publicly tie the initiative to his opposition to forever wars. Graham is a steadfast uber-hawk, but many GOP politicians would fall in line behind Trump, if only to avoid provoking the ire of America-Firsters.