Iranian Endgames?
American Greatness,
by
Victor Davis Hanson
Original Article
Posted By: DW626,
6/2/2026 1:06:35 PM
The Trump administration has bent over backward to negotiate an end to Iran’s grand plans to develop nuclear weapons—before the June 2025 bombing, afterward, and again during the follow-up diplomacy of spring 2026.
Yet Iran is unlikely ever to abandon its pursuit of the bomb voluntarily. With nuclear weapons, Tehran hopes to become the de facto hegemon of the Middle East. Only then could it effectively coerce or deter both Israel and the wealthy Arab Gulf states. And that is the charitable view, one that excludes the possibility of a messianic Shiite theocracy believing that eliminating the “one-bomb” state of Israel would forever ensure the Shiite minority permanent preeminence
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
DVC 6/2/2026 1:07:55 PM (No. 2111793)
Kill
ALL
the
leaders.
37 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 6/2/2026 1:33:10 PM (No. 2111802)
Yes, several levels down. I don't trust the 'wonderful' populace, either.
18 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
vhs68 6/2/2026 1:51:40 PM (No. 2111806)
Load the bomb bay and hit the road to Iran. Bombs away!!!
23 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
earlybird 6/2/2026 2:48:57 PM (No. 2111825)
BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!
9 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
stablemoney 6/2/2026 2:49:32 PM (No. 2111826)
Get real. There is no point to any negotiations with the Iranians, who are not going to honor any agreement. The US should proceed, knowing the Iranians are never going to change. Keep the Strait blocked, and the sanctions at a maximum. That is the least expense to US taxpayers. The EU, and Gulf States can get what they can out of the Iranians. We are going to get nothing.
18 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 6/2/2026 3:13:03 PM (No. 2111841)
I am becoming disappointed with President Trump on these negotiations. The Iranians are NOT serious, DO NOT intend to make any agreement, and if they did sign something, it isn't worth the paper it's written on.
The longer Trump tries to negotiate, the more disappointed I become. They only understand bombs and death. Give them that until they ARE surrendering, NO negotiations.
24 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Tanker76 6/2/2026 3:23:30 PM (No. 2111846)
WAY past time to knock their ding dongs in the dirt once and for all and get this thing over with.
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
seamusm 6/2/2026 4:41:44 PM (No. 2111859)
Shia intransigence is also Shia short-sighted idiocy. For if they even sent just a dirty bomb to Israel, the Israeli nuclear response would result in an Iranian wasteland for thousands of years
9 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
red1066 6/2/2026 4:42:06 PM (No. 2111860)
Once again, the Iranians are playing the rope a dope game. Keep dodging and weaving on negotiations until the west caves and then rearm. It's worked every time. This two-month stoppage has produced nothing but given Iran time to rearm and shift forces around. Once again, the U.S. government is grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. Something they've become experts in since Vietnam.
12 people like this.
Iran end game. We take Kharg Island. We keep the oil. We use the oil to replenish our
SPR. The spoils of war. You're welcome.
28 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
obdurate 6/2/2026 6:12:52 PM (No. 2111890)
Were he to read William T. Sherman.George S. Patton. and Curtis B. Le May. Donnie Heel Spurs might perhaps learn how to deal with an intransigent opponent.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 6/2/2026 8:23:06 PM (No. 2111956)
Re #10, great idea....one problem, the Strait of Hormuz are still closed, can't get the oil out of the Gulf.
0 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
felixcat 6/2/2026 9:10:49 PM (No. 2111967)
President Trump: you are not dealing with the NYC mob and some real estate deal. The IRGC are the worst of religious fanatics. Stop talking about a deal, What happened to unconditional surrender? These “leaders” slaughter their own people. Destroy them once and for all.
19 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Amoeba 6/3/2026 5:36:07 AM (No. 2112050)
Jesus said in the end times, more chaos and violence will be the norm. Just like in the times of Noah. There will be no peace until Jesus comes again. Stop 'dealing' and get to work against Persia.
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Venturer 6/3/2026 5:50:21 AM (No. 2112059)
If the present Iranian regime cannot give up their nuclear dreams then the obvious result is to remove the present regime. Fully remove it with prejudice.
13 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/3/2026 7:25:50 AM (No. 2112092)
Do not question the Chessmaster. He has not failed us yet and I can't see it happening this time. Iran has been reduced to two belligerent pawns and they are trapped in the corner.
6 people like this.
We must stop bending over backwards to negotiate - they see that as weakness.
Their word means nothing, so we just need to do what needs to be done. Find and destroy all nuclear material. Take out any one in leadership who has the means to do harm to their unarmed citizens.
My Iranian friend tells me that both Iranians here and inside Iran love Trump, for taking on their enemy.
6 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
mifla 6/3/2026 7:28:27 AM (No. 2112094)
Keep up the embargo. If they fire on us, take out the launch site. Time is on our side.
3 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 6/3/2026 9:00:06 AM (No. 2112178)
Make the blockade permanent, disable iran's financial system, and do "preventive maintenance operations" in iran every three years or as needed.
8 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
DCGIRL 6/3/2026 9:54:08 AM (No. 2112204)
I agree with #6. The people of the U.S. are getting frustrated with President Trump and the negotiations. If you noticed, lots lost that he endorsed Tuesday. With his current performance on Iran, he will lose both the house and senate at the rate he is going. I suggest, vaporize the IRGC and what leaders there are remaining. Set the people free and let them decide what government they want. NO MORE MONEY. They will need to rebuild themselves. The current Iran government that remains are TERRORISTS. Any money given to them will be used to terrorize.
2 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
nerdowell 6/3/2026 11:10:35 AM (No. 2112232)
The President's decision to strike Iran sent a chill down my spine, and it wasn't the decision itself, but the timing.
Now we've got a mess. "Allies" have refused support and may be actively working against us. They won't budge until after the midterms. The dems are effectively a fifth column actively promoting Iran's interest. Rising energy prices are a delight to them.
I suspect support within in our government--especially the CIA is mushy, if not hostile.
If he hoped aggressive action would over-ride the reluctance of the Arab states, his current inaction has alienated them. Unfortunately, his force of personality has not overcome our long established reputation for abandoning former clients and allies. His sensitivity, even diffidence to Arab perceptions has hobbled him. He still appears belligerent, but now he appears trepidatious as well to them.
And then there's Jared Kushner.
He has a month, perhaps two to resolve this, and right now, he's alone I fear.
He has to resume the strikes.
I still believe he will prevail, but he must do it soon or lose the House and the Senate.
The real battle is there. Everyone knows it.
0 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Geoman 6/3/2026 6:48:44 PM (No. 2112388)
How does oil get from the wellheads in Prudhoe Bay and Point Barrow, Alaska (located north of the Arctic Circle) to refineries in the lower 48? The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System moves the crude oil around 800 miles south to the Port of Valdez, and on to tankers in the Prince William Sound, with easy access to the Pacific. Back to the Persian Gulf, there is no need for oil to transit the Hormuz Straits when PG oil can be off loaded in the UAE at or near Dubai. Pipelines could transport the oil, due east, across the UAE to ports on the Gulf of Oman, like Fujairah, one of the 7 emirates of the UAE, where it could be loaded on tankers. Fujairah already serves as a significant oil storage and bunkering hub for PG crude oil. Transiting Oman, friendly to Iran, is not necessary, as the east-west line from Dubai passes to the north of Oman. By the way, the UAE has a modern Air Force and has combat experience. Look at the map of the region. Iran would have to send expeditionary forces to disrupt the flow of PG crude transiting the UAE, making them open targets for U.S. or local Gulf State military forces. The pipeline distance is only a fraction of the distance of the Alaska pipeline, and far less difficult to construct and maintain. Something other than operational necessity is causing the president's laser focus on the Straits, with Iran's pre-planned and entirely predictable negotiation delays. You don't have to be a geologist/geographer (geoman) to see for yourself.
3 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
rikkitikki 6/3/2026 6:54:21 PM (No. 2112391)
Seems odd to me that Hanson did not mention the recent resignation of the Iranian president, for the state reason that the IRGC was in complete control, and he was unable to fulfill the duties of his office as a result.
This is a crucial point, because it supports Hanson's observation that Trump may be accomplishing nothing more than "negotiating" with the IRGC, a group of fanatics whose religion allows them to lie in the name of their desert moon god.
And, as the IRGC has proven time and time again, such negotiations are worthless.
0 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
rikkitikki 6/3/2026 7:00:43 PM (No. 2112393)
On another tack, the mindset of Arab negotiators is much different than of Americans. To illustrate, think of how a rug merchant in an Arabian bazaar will conduct a trade of money for one of his rugs. The opening asking price of such a merchant will be far higher than what he is really willing to accept, and he will stick to his atmospheric price right up until the prospective buyer is walking away... and that is before his judgement is clouded by a religion founded on the rantings of a stone-age, sex-crazed, blood-thirsty desert warlord.
0 people like this.
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