The American administration must ensure that it does not fall into a trap that Iran is seemingly setting.
The key questions are these: Is the regime capable of a ceasefire? Is this a procrastination ploy? And what will the long-term implications be?
That concern appears well-founded. President Donald Trump is unhappy, and rightfully so, with Iran’s latest proposal, which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and settle maritime disputes before addressing Tehran’s nuclear program. Washington’s position is that the nuclear file must come first. For the Islamic Republic, however, securing early US concessions while postponing the issues on which it may have to compromise is not a departure from form; it is a familiar negotiating pattern—Iran’s modus operandi.
As ceasefires and agreements hover over what could become a resumption of war, do not be fooled by the mullahs’ cleverness. They are masters of deceit.
The June 2025 12-Day War’s ceasefire had barely taken hold when Israel said the Iranians fired missiles at Beersheba and northern cities.
In 2018, as President Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, the US Department of State described Iran on its website as the world’s leading state sponsor of terror. On May 8, President Trump said, “The future of Iran belongs to its people.”
President Trump began an incredibly difficult effort to free the world from the grip of the Iranian regime. He was on the right path. Nothing should deter him from following his own assessment and standing by the statements that brought him to this war in the first place.
True, the United States has weakened Iran’s missile capabilities, but ending a war in which stopping Iran’s uranium enrichment remains an unmet key goal could push the regime toward the very red line everyone feared.
Whether China will confront the United States after arming Iran with missiles remains to be seen.
Do not forget that Iran’s proxies are also a weapon.
Hamas is refusing to disarm and rejecting proposals that would require it to do so. Lebanon says it wants to disarm Hezbollah, but can it? True, Iran’s financing and training of Hezbollah have been curbed, but Hezbollah was still firing missiles into northern Israel right up to the pause. And the Iranian-backed proxy continues to fire on and kill Israeli soldiers.
If Iran is left with nuclear capabilities, along with a substantial share of its drone stockpile and missile launchers, as is being reported, the war is not over.
And where are the defectors?
It is a critical question. One of the goals of this war was to weaken the regime to the point that the people could gain control of their country.
Do not be fooled: Unfinished business is waiting in the wings.
American generals know the playbook. If Iran cannot agree to surrender its enriched uranium, Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury will only be catalysts for more Iranian terrorism.
Twenty-four hours after the untrusted regime opened the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on an Indian tanker near the shores of Oman. The regime says it will not reopen the passageway, through which 20% of the world’s oil travels, unless the US stops its blockade. That is another clear violation.
Iran’s main nuclear sites were not newly discovered in recent years, but the deeper problem remains how much of the program inspectors can actually see. Natanz and Arak were exposed in 2002, and Fordow in 2009, yet the International Atomic Energy Agency has still faced recurring gaps in visibility as Iran enriched uranium to 60%, and inspectors later found particles at Fordow enriched to about 84%, close to weapons grade. Satellite imagery showing fortified underground construction near Natanz has only added to concern that key parts of the program could be shielded from routine monitoring.
As for the people of Iran, President Trump asked them to go into the streets and take back their institutions. Iranians need a safety net and clear signs to do so.
If America lets them down, the message to people living in conflict and seeking democracy will be that America played into the hands of the enemy.
Do not fall into the Iranian trap. America must stand by its principles.