Decapitation or capitulation? Does Trump lop off the Islamist head of the regime or continue to exert maximum pressure to force behavioral change? Any viable strategy must take into account the nature of the ayatollah’s regime. Pride, ideology, and survival define it. An outcome perceived as outright defeat would be intolerable. Any loss must therefore be framed – however implausibly – as victory, or the regime will be unable to accept it or survive internally. Scripture reminds us that pride goes before destruction, yet pride also blinds leaders to reality.