You Cannot Negotiate With Iran
The light bulb may have finally turned on in the White House
U.S. Central Command conducted another round of airstrikes against Iranian targets last night “to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Ninety Iranian military targets were struck this round, “including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.”
CENTCOM struck 80 Iranian military targets Tuesday, “including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats” in response to Iran violating the ceasefire when it attacked three commercial vessels — the Marshall Islands-flagged M/T Al Rekayyat, the Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan, and the Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity — while navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump told reporters in Turkey the ceasefire is over and he does not want to deal with these “scum” anymore. “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them,” he said. “They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.”
In the balance: After 66 days of negotiations and the signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding intent on bringing the war to an end, the light bulb may have finally turned on in the White House. You cannot negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran — it cannot be trusted. It’s simply not in this regime’s DNA.
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nearly two weeks ago, “Nothing has changed. The Iranian system is led by clerics, radical clerics. That’s what it’s always been led by.”
IRGC Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi further complicates the issue.
Decision point: Just when you thought Mr. Trump was set to take the gloves off and finish the job, he tells reporters in Ankara that he did not think a full-fledged conflict with Iran would erupt in the wake of military strikes from both sides. “I don’t think it’s going to start again. I think it’s going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit them much harder.”
So just another round of tit for tat?
While the president says he does not want to deal with Iran any more, and it was a waste of time to deal with the country’s negotiators, he is once again leaving the door open to resume negotiations.
And the Iranian negotiators seized upon the opportunity. The president told reporters on Air Force One that the Iranians “called a short while ago. They want to make a deal.”
Mr. Trump cannot help it — he takes the bait every time. The businessman in him will not let him walk away from a potential deal. He needs to put on his commander-in-chief hat and secure the win.
Unless that phone call came from Mr. Vahidi himself, it is meaningless. How many times must he relearn this lesson?
What Iran needs is a punch to the face, then a foot on the throat, not another slap on the wrist.
Iran made its decision. The time for negotiations has passed. Finish the job!
 | A guest post by
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 | A guest post by
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