Iran has spent decades preparing for conflict with the United States, treating resistance to America as its core identity rather than a means to improve domestic welfare. U.S. policy under Trump is characterized as shifting attention between isolationism and interventionism while weakening diplomatic capacity. The deadlock between the two sides is ideological and structural: the United States must demand more from Iran to justify conflict costs, while Iran must demand more and concede less after major losses. Neither side can accept a deal the other would find acceptable, and zero-sum bargaining favors Iran’s sustained focus. Even if U.S. military action pauses, Iran’s ideological war, nuclear ambitions, threats to the Strait of Hormuz, regional proxies, and missile programs are expected to continue while the regime remains in power.
"For nearly five decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been preparing for a war that Donald Trump expected would take days."
"The deadlock is both ideological and structural. To justify the immense costs of conflict to American taxpayers, Trump must demand far more from Tehran in any deal than he would have before the war began. Conversely, having lost hundreds of billions of dollars and its top leadership, Iran's theocracy must demand far more-and concede far less-than it ever would have previously. Neither side can afford a deal that the other might accept."
"Trump may pause his war against Iran. But the Islamic Republic's 47-year ideological war with "the Great Satan, America, and its trained beast, the Zionist regime"-in the recent words of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader-will continue in earnest. U.S.-Iran negotiations yield zero trust and zero closure."
"Tehran's nuclear ambitions, threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, regional proxies, and missile programs will menace the Middle East so long as the Islamic Republic is in power."
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]