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3. Donald Trump Was Right: Negotiate or Sink

The war between Israel and Iran isn’t some distant conflict. It’s a war on our doorstep, happening right here at home. Last night, all Lebanese looked up as missiles cut across the sky: Iranian rockets aimed at northern Israel and the interceptors trying to stop them. Barrages of fire thundered through Lebanese airspace. Jordan has closed its skies. So have Iraq and Syria. The war is here, it is visible, burning and closer than ever before.

Since Friday, Israel’s campaign to dismantle Iran’s military capabilities has ramped up: targeted strikes on nuclear facilities, ballistic missile launch sites and military airports. The killing of at least 20 senior Iranian officials and 9 scientists has only escalated tensions further. Israel maintains full control of the skies, with its jets precisely hitting every critical strategic target in Iran. In response, Iran has stepped up missile launches and drone deployments against Israel. Notably, the number of missiles being fired is steadily declining, which speaks volumes about the chaos unfolding in Tehran.

The Iranian regime is under unprecedented military pressure and risks being wiped out by history if it keeps going down this road. That’s why Donald Trump is right, they need to negotiate. Talking doesn’t cost anything, but refusing to talk could cost everything. Today, diplomacy is the only way out. Everyone knows that.

It’s important to realize that despite Israel’s military power, targeting some Iranian nuclear sites is highly complicated. Many of these facilities are hidden deep underground, sometimes hundreds of meters beneath the surface and tucked away under mountains, making any strike risky with uncertain results.

Meanwhile, Iran’s economic situation is dire: 60% of the population lives below the poverty line. This social reality only deepens the regime’s fragility and makes it increasingly unpredictable.

For now, Lebanon is witnessing this war of “technology versus ideology,” cautiously keeping in check any followers hoping for “new” divine victories. We’ve already been through this, and we know how “successfully” it ended.

The longer this war drags on, the greater the toll on civilians. Yet the “supreme leader” still appears unable to grasp this reality, focused instead on ways to preserve his regime.

Without negotiations, Iran has no real hope of victory, no matter how faint. This is likely the only clear certainty in this conflict.

If the mullahs cared even a little about their people, they’d accept Donald Trump’s outstretched hand without hesitation. The US president is the only one who can truly sway everyone involved. On the global stage, Iran’s isolation is clear: Western countries back Israel; Arab states offer only weak condemnation, even though they’ve suffered from the “exporters of revolution” since 1979; Russia acts as a mediator but is tied up in the brutal war in Ukraine; and China looks away, gearing up for its coming cold war with the US.

Iran is like an island facing an incoming tsunami, yet it believes it can escape by paddling a tiny canoe.

The mullahs have a pattern of making wrong choices. They are now writing the final chapter of their rule.