{"id":25681,"date":"2026-05-28T11:44:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/?p=25681"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:44:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:44:28","slug":"why-any-deal-with-iran-is-a-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/28\/why-any-deal-with-iran-is-a-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Any Deal with Iran Is a Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

There can be no “good” deal with a jihadist regime that openly sponsors terrorism across the Middle East, brutalizes its own people, calls for the destruction of Israel, and continues to chant “Death to America.” <\/em>Tehran sees diplomacy as a tactical weapon: a means to buy time, get intrusive foreign governments off their back, weaken international opposition, divide Western allies, and secure economic relief — all while continuing its long-term strategic objectives as fast as the circumstances after President Donald J. Trump’s term in office will allow.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even if any new agreement does not contain sunset clauses allowing the Iranian regime eventually to resume advanced uranium enrichment activities legally after restrictions expire, the Iranian regime will view a “deal” as a green light quietly to continue rebuilding its nuclear weapons program. Such provisions do not eliminate the nuclear threat; they postpone them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Already, Iran has reportedly already restarted much of its ballistic missile production and “could restore significant portions of its offensive drone capabilities within months.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Significantly, the response from the Arab and Muslim world to Trump’s latest demand [to join the Abraham Accords] has been largely unenthusiastic. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have shown no public eagerness to comply, while Pakistan flatly rejected the idea. This silence and rejection underscore a larger reality: meaningful peace agreements cannot be manufactured for public relations purposes or used to obscure strategic failures elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n

Worse, many of the supposedly neutral Middle Eastern countries “facilitating” the deal — Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — have well-worn records of not being even slightly neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n

Expanding peace agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries is unquestionably a positive goal. Peace and normalization are in the interests of Arabs and Muslims no less than Israelis. The Abraham Accords demonstrated that cooperation with Israel promotes regional stability, security, economic growth, and technological advancement. Genuine peace, however, may not be able to be imposed through pressure or threats. Peace made at gunpoint rarely lasts. Arabs and Muslims might choose peace with Israel because they recognize that coexistence and regional cooperation serve their own national interests, not because they are being publicly pressured by the US president.<\/em><\/p>\n

[B]y linking the Abraham Accords to the conflict with Iran, Trump risks creating the impression that normalization is being used to compensate for the failure to topple the Iranian regime or halt its nuclear ambitions. It almost appears as if the Trump administration understands that any forthcoming agreement with Tehran will be viewed by many in the Middle East as a weak and dangerous concession, and is therefore searching for a diplomatic achievement elsewhere to offset criticism.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Iranian regime, although its top layers of leadership have been eliminated, has\u00a0not\u00a0changed. The “terrorists with an oil field” will emerge from a future agreement economically stronger, politically legitimized, and closer than ever to an eventual nuclear breakout capability.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any agreement that leaves intact the current Iranian regime — one that has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction and repeatedly violates its own signed commitments, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — cannot be trusted.<\/em><\/p>\n

The only realistic strategy is one based on sustained maximum pressure — including kinetic action if necessary — diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions, and decisive measures aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs permanently. Anything less will simply postpone the next crisis while making the Iranian regime richer, stronger, and more dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once again, the US appears prepared to negotiate another agreement with Iran in the hope of limiting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and reducing tensions in the Middle East. The negotiations are a dangerous illusion, based on the false assumption that compromise, sanctions relief, and engagement are the only path to regional stability.<\/em><\/p>\n

There can be no “good” deal with a jihadist regime that openly sponsors terrorism across the Middle East, brutalizes its own people,\u00a0calls<\/a>\u00a0for the destruction of Israel, and continues to\u00a0chant<\/a>\u00a0“Death to America.”<\/em><\/p>\n

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum this week\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Iran’s current Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leaders “terrorists with an oil field.”<\/em><\/p>\n

An agreement will not moderate them. It will embolden them.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime and its terror proxies \u2013 Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis in Yemen \u2013 will interpret any deal as a victory over the US and the West. They will see it as proof that terrorism, missile attacks, hostage-taking, nuclear blackmail, and claiming control of the Strait of Hormuz forced Western powers into concessions.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is exactly what happened when the Obama administration signed the 2015 “nuclear deal,” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal\u00a0provided<\/a>\u00a0Tehran with sanctions relief and access to billions of dollars while merely delaying — not totally dismantling — its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime never changed its behavior. There was never any need to. Instead, the regime expanded its ballistic missile program, increased support for terrorist organizations, intensified regional aggression, and steadily advanced its nuclear capabilities. Iran’s mullahs repeatedly\u00a0violated<\/a>\u00a0restrictions while exploiting loopholes and enforcement mechanisms that were pitifully weak.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why should anyone believe that this time will be different?<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime does not view negotiations the way Western democracies do. Tehran sees diplomacy as a tactical weapon: a means to buy time, get intrusive foreign governments off their back, weaken international opposition, divide Western allies, and secure economic relief — all while continuing its long-term strategic objectives as fast as the circumstances after President Donald J. Trump’s term in office will allow.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the Islamist rulers in Tehran, hostility toward the US and Israel is not rhetoric. It is a core pillar of the regime’s ideology and identity — its entire reason for being.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any agreement that eases sanctions will inject billions of dollars into Iran’s economy. That money will not improve the lives of ordinary Iranians suffering under corruption, repression, and economic mismanagement. It will only strengthen the IRGC, finance terrorism, and fuel new wars across the Middle East.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime continues supplying its proxies with weapons and political backing. More money for Tehran means more drones and rockets for Hezbollah in Lebanon, more weapons and training for Hamas, and more drones and ballistic missiles for the Houthis in Yemen.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Houthis have already demonstrated their ability to threaten vital international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with repeated attacks on commercial vessels and disruptions to global maritime trade.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any agreement that enriches the Iranian regime will jeopardize global energy security by leaving critical oil chokepoints vulnerable to state-sponsored sabotage wherever countries will end freedom of navigation. Endless negotiations with the Iranian regime — particularly until the US midterm elections in November to make sure that oil prices stay high and voters stay “madder<\/a>” — consume enormous American diplomatic energy and strategic attention that are urgently needed elsewhere. Washington risks becoming trapped once again in a cycle of talks, temporary understandings, violations, and renewed crises with a regime that has consistently acted in bad faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even if any new agreement does not contain sunset clauses allowing the Iranian regime eventually to resume advanced uranium enrichment activities legally after restrictions expire, the Iranian regime will view a “deal” as a green light quietly to continue rebuilding its nuclear weapons program. Such provisions do not eliminate the nuclear threat; they postpone them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Already, Iran has reportedly already\u00a0restarted<\/a>\u00a0much of its ballistic missile production and “could restore significant portions of its offensive drone capabilities within months.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Every concession made to Tehran weakens America’s credibility and emboldens those seeking to undermine Western interests.<\/em><\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, Trump’s demand that Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan, join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel raises additional questions about Washington’s strategy in the Middle East. Expanding peace agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries is unquestionably a positive goal. Peace and normalization are in the interests of Arabs and Muslims no less than Israelis. The Abraham Accords demonstrated that cooperation with Israel promotes regional stability, security, economic growth, and technological advancement. Genuine peace, however, may not be able to be imposed through pressure or threats. Peace made at gunpoint rarely lasts. Arabs and Muslims might choose peace with Israel because they recognize that coexistence and regional cooperation serve their own national interests, not because they are being publicly pressured by the US president.<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition, by linking the Abraham Accords to the conflict with Iran, Trump risks creating the impression that normalization is being used to compensate for the failure to topple the Iranian regime or halt its nuclear ambitions. It almost appears as if the Trump administration understands that any forthcoming agreement with Tehran will be viewed by many in the Middle East as a weak and dangerous concession, and is therefore searching for a diplomatic achievement elsewhere to offset criticism.<\/em><\/p>\n

Significantly, the response from the Arab and Muslim world to Trump’s latest demand has been largely unenthusiastic. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have shown no public eagerness to comply, while Pakistan flatly rejected the idea. This silence and rejection underscore a larger reality: meaningful peace agreements cannot be manufactured for public relations purposes or used to obscure strategic failures elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n

The consequences of a deal with Tehran could extend far beyond Israel and the Middle East.<\/em><\/p>\n

Worse, many of the supposedly neutral Middle Eastern countries “facilitating” the deal — Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — have well-worn records of not being even slightly neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n

Within hours of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khwaja Asif\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that “all Muslim countries should fight united against Israel” and that we “are standing by Iran in every way.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Turkey’s antagonism toward Israel after October 7, 2023, has only hardened. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has openly been\u00a0calling f<\/a>or Israel’s destruction.<\/em><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia earlier this month\u00a0refused<\/a>\u00a0to grant the United States the use of Prince Sultan Airbase as well as flyover rights for Project Freedom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Qatar, with its state-owned Al Jazeera media empire that promotes the Muslim Brotherhood, is, along with Turkey, a long-time supporter of Hamas. In October 2023, then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0Qatar to “tone down the volume on Al Jazeera’s coverage because it is so full of anti-Israel incitement.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Qatar’s school textbooks “remain rife with antisemitic content” according to both a 2024\u00a0US State Department report<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a02025 ISGAP report<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have interests in making sure that Iran’s regime survives.<\/em><\/p>\n

First, a “deal,” prevents further Iranian missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which is why the Iranian regime attacked its neighbors in the first place: to pressure Trump into stopping US military operations and instead persuade him to make a deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Second, all four countries might well prefer to have Iran ruled by a weakened regime to seeing Israel’s stature in the Middle East strengthened.<\/em><\/p>\n

Third, if the IRGC “terrorists with an oil field” remain ruling Iran, it makes it easier for all of these countries — after Trump leaves office — to resume trying to annihilate Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

And if they deployed soldiers as part of an “International Stabilization Force” in Gaza, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan would be positioned militarily, right on Israel’s doorstep. Apart from Turkey, these countries have never even recognized that Israel even exists.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Iranian regime, although its top layers of leadership have been eliminated, has\u00a0not\u00a0changed. The “terrorists with an oil field” will emerge from a future agreement economically stronger, politically legitimized, and closer than ever to an eventual nuclear breakout capability.<\/em><\/p>\n

For Israel, the consequences are especially grave.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any agreement that leaves intact the current Iranian regime — one that has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction and repeatedly\u00a0violates<\/a>\u00a0its own signed commitments, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — cannot be trusted.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any agreement that strengthens the Iranian regime financially and politically also strengthens its network of terrorist organizations that surround Israel on multiple fronts: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.<\/em><\/p>\n

The missile and drone capabilities that Iran is actively rebuilding already enable its proxies to attack Israel with increasingly sophisticated precision weapons. Every sanctions-relief package and every diplomatic concession accelerate this process. Every day of negotiations sees Iran’s capabilities rapidly being restored.<\/em><\/p>\n

The consequences would extend far beyond Israel and the Middle East.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the same time, a “deal” would send a message that defiance and blackmail eventually produce rewards and economic benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n

Equally disturbing is the moral message such an agreement would send.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime is one of the world’s leading\u00a0violators<\/a>\u00a0of human rights. It brutally suppresses dissent, jails journalists and political opponents, persecutes women and minorities, and executes critics. Rewarding such a regime with sanctions relief and international legitimacy would normalize repression and signal that systematic human rights abuses carry no meaningful consequences.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, a deal with Tehran would undermine American deterrence worldwide. America’s enemies would see negotiations and concessions not as diplomacy, but as weakness.<\/em><\/p>\n

The fundamental problem is not only Iran’s nuclear program, but also the nature of the regime itself. This is a revolutionary Islamist regime committed to exporting\u00a0jihad\u00a0(holy war), destroying Israel, undermining pro-Western governments, and threatening American interests throughout the Middle East. No “deal” can change that reality.<\/em><\/p>\n

The only realistic strategy is one based on sustained maximum pressure — including kinetic action if necessary — diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions, and decisive measures aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs permanently. Anything less will simply postpone the next crisis while making the Iranian regime richer, stronger, and more dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0egretnewseditor@gmail.com<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There can be no “good” deal with a jihadist regime that openly sponsors terrorism across the Middle East, brutalizes its own people, calls for the destruction of Israel, and continues to chant “Death to America.” Tehran sees diplomacy as a tactical weapon: a means to buy time, get intrusive foreign governments off their back, weaken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47471,"featured_media":25682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slider","category-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25681"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25683,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25681\/revisions\/25683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}