\u201cIran never won a war but never lost a negotiation,\u201d U.S. President Donald Trump stated<\/a> on Jan. 3, 2020.<\/p>\n But experts told JNS that the Iran regime\u2019s reputation as a master negotiator, which it is said to have displayed during the 1979 hostage crisis, the 2015 nuclear agreement and the most recent round of U.S.-Iranian negotiations surrounding a memorandum of understanding, is over-hyped.<\/p>\n Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told JNS he would give the regime a C-plus on its abilities at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranian regime is only as strong a negotiator as we allow them to be,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes very disciplined negotiations from the U.S. side to be able to counteract their demands.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif listens as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) addresses reporters before a bilateral meeting at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York, N.Y., April 22, 2016. Credit: U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n The Islamic Republic can be too confident in its abilities as well, according to Brodsky.<\/p>\n \u201cIran has the tendency to overplay its hand,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cThey feel so emboldened that it is very likely they are going to overplay their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran has also suffered \u201cmassive damage\u201d from which it will take years to recover and which limits its negotiating position going forward, but it can still be misunderstood if American negotiators aren\u2019t cautious, according to Brodsky.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranian regime does not enter negotiations trying to solve problems with the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cIt uses negotiations as an extension of its conflict with America, not a substitute for that conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan Harounoff, author of a book<\/a> on protest movements for women\u2019s rights in Iran, told JNS that depending on what exactly is being evaluated, Tehran would get mixed marks at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n Harounoff, who recently stepped down<\/a> as international spokesman for the Israeli mission to the United Nations, gave the regime an A for its negotiation skills and ability to leverage its diplomacy to advance its interests.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif share a laugh as they sit in the Blue Salon at the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna, Austria, the same room and place where they negotiated the Iranian nuclear deal, to have further conversations about the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, May 17, 2016. Credit: U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n \u201cIslamic Republic negotiators are very shrewd, very skilled and they typically adopt a long-term strategy instead of a short-term one,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n He gave the Islamic Republic an F for what he said was its \u201csincerity for wanting to reach a deal that delivers actual regional peace.\u201d<\/p>\n That distinction helps explain why public perceptions often differ from those of experts, and those who assess Iran primarily through its public messaging may be more inclined to give it an A, according to Harounoff.<\/p>\n \u201cBut those who were cognizant of the vast gulf between what the regime says and what it does in practice will likely be closer to the F grade,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n Stalling tactic<\/p>\n Annika Hernroth-Rothstein, a Jewish political adviser, writer and activist who has reported in Iran, told JNS that Western policymakers often misinterpret the regime by treating it as a conventional negotiating partner rather than a state shaped by a distinct historical and strategic worldview.<\/p>\n \u201cThey fail to understand what Iran is, and they also have very little insight into Persian history and culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump signs a memorandum of understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America at the Palace of Versailles, France, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, June 17, 2026. Credit: Daniel Torok\/White House.<\/p>\n The Iranian regime benefits from thinking in decades rather than election cycles, allowing it to outlast shifting Western administrations. \u201cThey understand their opponent very well,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cThey are also good when it comes to exhaustion.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked to describe Iran\u2019s negotiating posture in a single word, she said \u201cpatient.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have nothing to lose,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cIf all you have to do is survive, Trump has to do a whole lot more than that to call this a win.\u201d<\/p>\n Brodsky and Harounoff agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranians prefer long drawn-out negotiations that gradually try to exhaust the other party in diplomacy in order to extract the concessions that the Islamic Republic wants,\u201d Brodsky told JNS.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, with members of the national security team, participate in a secure video teleconference from the Situation Room of the White House with Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and the U.S. negotiating team in Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss the P5+1 negotiations with Iran, March 31, 2015. Credit: Pete Souza\/White House.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s negotiators also benefit from decades of institutional experience across multiple U.S. administrations, he said.<\/p>\n Electoral cycles and administrative changes don\u2019t constrain Iran\u2019s leaders, so the latter can afford to delay and recalibrate their approach over time, according to Harounoff.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have the luxury of stalling, kicking the can down the road and hoping that a future administration might view the Islamic Republic more palatably,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n Harounoff said that the Iranian regime must not be conflated with the people and that the \u201cgreatest misconception\u201d about the Islamic Republic is that it in any way resembles the 93 million Iranians.<\/p>\n![\"Iran](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783363450_60_.webp\")
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