The misrepresentations in the speech were too numerous to catalog entirely, but one of the biggest was Trump’s assertion that “the previous administration lifted sanctions just before what would have been the complete collapse of the regime”.  There is no evidence whatsoever that the Iranian regime was on the brink of any such collapse.  Piling on more and more sanctions in the absence of engagement and diplomacy had merely seen the spinning of more and more centrifuges enriching uranium.  This line in the speech points to the vacuity of what Trump is offering for a policy toward Iran: endless hostility and confrontation, and with it the risk of war, sustained by a baseless hope of regime change—a hope that has brought costs and chaos that the United States knows all too well. 

Image: First Lady Melania Trump looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon his departure from the White House in Washington, U.S., October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque