US must disabuse itself of its Middle East illusions – opinion
The mistaken assumption that everyone shares our aspirations has undermined generations of US policymakers seeking to resolve conflicts from Tehran to Gaza.
By ERIC R. MANDEL | JUNE 15, 2026
Hezbollah forces at a parade in south Beirut, Lebanon, in the late 2000s. Photo by Voice of America – YouTube – Public Domain, Wikipedia
Has US President Donald Trump followed the path of previous Democratic and Republican presidents who believed the Islamic Republic could be trusted to honor a negotiated agreement? Or will he come to recognize that Iran is not merely a difficult adversary but a revolutionary regime whose objectives fundamentally differ from those of the United States?




Image by DrRandomFactor – This file was derived from: China prefectural-level divisions and administrative divisions (PRoC claim).png, CC BY-SA 3.0, 




