Iran

The Iranian regime is once again celebrating having diplomatic negotiations with the United States, this time under the Trump administration. Tehran’s leaders have been framing these renewed talks as a positive that will enable them to retain their hold on power, and their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs to unleash at a later date.

The Trump administration, after signaling a preference for dialogue over confrontation, is engaging in renewed a diplomatic effort to end Iran’s nuclear program. President Donald J. Trump has made clear that he is not seeking war. “I would prefer to make a deal,” he stated recently, “because I’m not looking to hurt Iran.”

The Trump administration is once again engaging with the Iranian regime, this time in Oman, to encourage it to end its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs the way Libya’s late leader Muammar Ghaddafi did. As US President Donald J. Trump transparently put it: “I would love to make a deal with them without bombing them.”

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has called for direct talks with Iran, in the apparent belief that a fresh deal — tougher, broader and more binding than the Obama administration’s 2105 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — could prevent Iran from an imminent nuclear weapons breakout.

For more than four decades, many Western politicians have entertained the hope that negotiations with the Islamist regime in Iran might lead to a change in its behavior and attitude toward the West. Time and again, diplomatic overtures, economic incentives and concessions have been extended to Tehran in the hope that engagement could moderate its policies. Yet, every attempt at diplomacy has failed. Unfortunately, it will continue to fail. Like it or not, the nature of the Iranian regime is inseparable from its ideological foundations. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state, or even a conventional dictatorship. It is an ideological entity that derives its very identity from opposition to the United States, Israel and the West.

For more than four decades, some policymakers in the United States and the West have clung to the belief that Iran’s regime can be persuaded into cooperation through diplomatic engagement, economic incentives or strategic deals. This persistent delusion has driven various US administrations to pursue negotiations, lift sanctions, shower Iran with cash, and offer it reintegration into the global financial system — all in the hope that such gestures would encourage moderation.

The regime’s record, however, has repeatedly proven the opposite. Regardless of the strategies employed to engage it, Iran’s regime remains intractably hostile to the United States, Israel and the broader Western world.

Iran, reportedly weeks away from a nuclear weapons breakout, is still threatening the “total annihilation of Israel.” To that end, the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has announced “Operation True Promise 3” – another rocket and ballistic missile air assault on Israel. IRGC Major General Ebrahim Jabbari this month said: “Operation True Promise 3 will be carried out at the right time, with precision, and in a scale sufficient to destroy Israel and raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground.”

The Iranian regime, currently at one of the weakest points in its recent history, presents a crucial opportunity for the United States and its allies.

The collapse of its strongest regional ally, Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, has left Tehran without a key pillar of support in the Middle East. Iran’s most powerful proxy groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, have suffered significant setbacks thanks to Israeli military operations. With Iran’s economy in shambles and its isolation increasing, the regime is more vulnerable than ever before. This moment should not be squandered. It presents an unparalleled opportunity to curb Iran’s ambitions — permanently.