For all the commentary and hot takes over the long holiday weekend about a potential Iran deal, here’s the bottom line: We still don’t know what exactly an agreement will contain. But here’s what we do know up front. During his first term, President Trump pulled out of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated by former President Barack Obama. It seems very unlikely that he would sign on to a new agreement that repeats Obama’s mistakes.
I believe the President has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Iran. Over his two terms in office, he’s made all the right moves against the regime.
That said, any agreement, in my view, must include the following four non-negotiable points:
- The complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian soil.
- Severe restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.
- An end to all Iranian support of its terror proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
- The Strait of Hormuz must remain open with no further Iranian meddling.
I would be very skeptical of any final agreement that does not include those four pointsโand frankly, I would even be skeptical of any agreement that does! Iran’s regime simply cannot be trusted. We have a 47-year track record of murder, mayhem, lies, and double talk that proves it.
I am no fan of letting the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism off the hook to survive another day when it’s at its weakest moment. However, under the current circumstances, the president believes he can achieve an outcome that ends Iran’s nuclear program, opens the Strait of Hormuz, and ends the war.
Over the weekend, the President underscored that an agreement between the two sides was largely negotiated, which includes those pointsโand he has all the leverage and the full might of the U.S. military on his side.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday stated, โWell, the straits have to be open. What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, [and] it’s unacceptable. The Russians are not in favor of a tolling system. The Chinese are not in favor of a tolling system. I mean, there’s no country in the world that’s in favor of a tolling system except the regime in Iran. So that’s not acceptable. That cannot happen. The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls. And obviously, that needs to happen.โ
Now, Iran’s regime is undoubtedly going to demand sanctions reliefโalso known as moneyโas part of any deal.
Then there’s the Iranian people. It seemed that we had a golden opportunity for them to rise up and finally overthrow the tyrants who have oppressed them for so long. Is that now off the table?
A lot of questions remain as President Trump convenes his cabinet at Camp David today for a crucial meeting.
There is one last very intriguing wrinkle. The president is now calling on Muslim nationsโincluding Saudi Arabia and Qatarโto join the Abraham Accords with Israel as part of a broader regional deal with Iran.
Let’s see how this all plays out over the next few days. Does the Iranian regime’s apocalyptic Islamic jihadist ideology and history of lies ensure that any deal isn’t worth the paper it’s written on? We’re about to find out. Of course, renewed military action by the U.S. and Israel is still very much on the table if Iran backs out of a potential deal.
The thing about evil is that it is relentless.
Unless evil is decisively defeated, it will just keep coming. That’s what evil does. That’s why the U.S. and its allies had to utterly crush the war machines of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan during World War II. Anything less meant that those two fanatical regimes would have kept fighting and killing indefinitely.
Evil is relentless because, at the end of the day, it is demonically driven.
Beneath the surface, we’re locked in a spiritual battle with some very dark forces. That’s why Iran’s regime still refuses to surrender. Over the past two and a half months, the United States and Israel have destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, air defenses, and its nuclear program. Iran’s political and military leadership have been decimated. The regime is losing some $500 million per day thanks to the ongoing U.S. naval blockade. The mullahs have no leverage and are facing total collapse. And yet, they continue to threaten the United States and vow to fight on.
Evil is relentless, arrogant, and irrational. Look no further than the apocalyptic Islamist ideology that drives Iran’s leaders, who truly believe that their Islamic messiah, whom they call the โMahdiโ or the โ12th Imam,โ will return during a time of great global chaos. This messiah-figure will then lead the armies of Islam to victory over all of the Jews and Christians, with Iran as the tip of his spear. According to an apocalyptic jihadi vision, โJesusโ will accompany the Mahdi and help him kill all the Jews and the Christians. It sounds crazyโฆ because it is.
The mainstream media won’t address the twisted Ideology at the heart of this regime. This may be the first time you have heard any of this! But the leadersโ radical Islamic beliefs are enormously consequential, and they play a major role in why Iran will not surrender unless it is completely defeated.
The regime in Tehran will talk you to deathโliterallyโat the negotiating table, dragging things out as long as they can. With enough chaos, they believe that maybe, just maybe, the Mahdi will emerge from hiding, save the day, and vanquish the United States and Israel once and for all.
The legendary Sun Tzu, in his classic, โThe Art of War,โ wrote that the first rule of war is to know your enemy. If we do not understand Iran’s regime and what motivates it, it will take advantage. Thankfully, I believe President Trump understands this very clearly and will do what needs to be done. He has said repeatedly that Iran’s regime has spent 47 years creating chaos and that the time for games is over.
The majority of the Iranian people reject the regime and its ideology. Between POTUS, Israel, and the people, there is a golden opportunity to deal a final blow to the relentless evil of Iran’s regime.
