The American president is hinting that war will resume. This is “the calm before the storm,” he said amid the deadlock in the negotiations hosted and overseen by Pakistan. With the rising tone of defiance and Iran’s premature declaration of victory, and with the growing global damage caused by Iran’s “hijacking” of the Strait of Hormuz and its use as a tool to blackmail the world, what comes next?
Qatar, which continues to declare its support for negotiations and a political solution - and which is taking part in these efforts itself - announced through its Foreign Ministry that “the brutal attacks against the countries of the region have crossed every red line,” following the recent attack on the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant by three drones
Meanwhile, how are the leaders of the Iranian regime approaching things today? It is pursuing escalation and pressing forward in the dance of war - the dance of a slaughtered victim. Baqer Qalibaf, who is described as moderate and pragmatic, recently declared that “the Iranian armed forces are prepared to respond to any aggression.”
However, the figure who most transparently represents the mindset of the regime and its total detachment from the realities of ordinary life is Mohammad Saleh Jokar, head of the Internal Affairs Committee in the Iranian parliament. He stated that the “absent supreme leader,” Khamenei, has decided that negotiations cannot be accepted unless the following conditions are met:
- An end to the war on all fronts and against all parties of the “Axis of Resistance.”
- The withdrawal of American combat forces from all their bases in the region.
- Full compensation paid to Iran.
- The lifting of all sanctions imposed on Tehran.
- The release of Iranian funds and assets frozen abroad.
- The full right to enrich uranium.
What else remains? The submission of the region to the directives of the Guardian of the Muslims, Leader of the Revolution, Supreme Leader, and “Deputy of the Hidden Imam” - all of which are actual titles, not interpretations.
We are facing a delusional mentality. In the words of the late Moroccan thinker Mohammed Abed al-Jabri, we are confronted with a regime that has “resigned from reason,” taking an approach founded on mystical intuition, divine emanation, and esoteric knowledge.
It is said that this public rhetoric is merely for domestic consumption and is intended to save face. The failure of the talks in Pakistan, and before them the rounds of negotiation in Oman and Austria - and before that the long series of negotiations dating back to the days of Obama and Biden - all indicate that the regime will not relinquish what it sees as its sources of strength. Only force can compel it to change, whether that force takes the form of a “real” and lasting economic blockade or another round of effective military deterrence.
That is, unless God opens the minds and hearts of those leading Iran and they realize that they are bringing devastation to their people and that harming their neighbors, no matter how severe the damage they inflict may be, can eventually be contained and overcome... God prevails over His affairs.
