Warning: No Deal Whatsoever with Iran’s Mullahs

• The Iranian regime’s sudden willingness to negotiate following Trump’s reelection is nothing more than a tactical maneuver. It seeks to buy time, stave off tough sanctions, and delay decisive action while advancing its nuclear program, while waiting out Trump.

• This is a familiar strategy, designed to outlast the Trump administration and neutralize any efforts to hold the regime accountable. Such deceptive overtures must be recognized for what they are — a fake truce to secure the Islamic Republic’s survival and expansion.
• The West must stop deluding itself into believing that any deal with such a country can succeed.
• The only effective approach is one of unwavering sanctions, relentless pressure, maintaining a military option and supporting the efforts of most of the Iranian people, who are desperate for a new form of government.

The possibility of negotiating a deal with Iran has resurfaced. Reports suggest that the Islamic Republic’s leaders are expressing a willingness to engage with the incoming US administration after Donald J. Trump assumes office.

Reaching a deal, however, with a regime actively waging proxy wars against Israel, most of the Persian Gulf States and the United States — and that is arming Russia in its war on Ukraine — would be a monumental error.

Such an agreement would not only bolster the regime financially, but also grant it global legitimacy. That renewed strength would only once again fuel Iran’s aggression, further destabilize the region, and embolden its revolutionary ambitions. Negotiating with a regime steeped in terror would simply serve to expand its reach and strengthen its resolve.