Nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are at a very crucial stage, according to a U.N. watchdog. They come as the U.S. launched what appears to be the deadliest strike on Yemen's Houthi rebels under President Trump. The Trump administration has linked its strikes in Yemen to its efforts to pressure Iran over its nuclear program 

Osamah Khalil, professor of history and chair of the International Relations Undergraduate Program, argues that the pressure tactics are unnecessary and making things much worse.

“We see a failed policy under the Biden administration of attempting to separate the situation in Yemen and the Ansar Allah movement—the Houthi movement—in Yemen from Israel's war in Gaza. Ansar Allah has made it clear that these two are connected and the Biden administration refused to accept that and launched these air strikes, the beginning of the air strikes,” says Khalil.

“The Trump administration, unfortunately, has continued them rather than seeking a diplomatic off-ramp. And what we've seen, quite frankly, is that the United States has spent billions of dollars bombing Yemen, one of the poorest countries on Earth, in a very failed effort to dissuade the Ansar Allah movement from supporting Palestinians in Gaza. All this could've been ended at least a year and a half ago, and the fact that it's continuing under the Trump administration is another yet failed policy attempting to use air strikes when diplomacy could work,” he says.

“Now the Trump administration is claiming this is an attempt to pressure Iran but it's unclear to me, quite frankly, by bombing a port, killing paramedics and port workers, is somehow going to pressure Iran in negotiations. If the United States wants to neotiate with Iran, it should negotiate with Iran. There's no reason to be bombing Yemen to do that,” says Khalil.

Watch the full interview via the CBS News website.