July 9, 2026 - 9:00 pm

It’s difficult to negotiate with people who want to murder you. Just look at Iran.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump declared an end to the ceasefire with Iran. His pronouncement came after Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz. That wasn’t the first time Iran fired on a shipping vessel since it signed a memorandum of understanding with America in mid-June. This week, U.S. forces hit more than 150 Iranian targets. So much for the MOU that was supposed to give the two countries 60 days to hammer out a more permanent agreement.

“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump said. He continued, “They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.”

He’s right. Some of us pointed this out last month. In 2020, Trump himself observed, “Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!”

While Trump agreed to the deal, Vice President JD Vance became its public champion.

“People say the Iranians will never change their behavior,” Vance said at a June briefing. “Well, maybe that’s true, and if so they don’t get any of the benefits of the bargain. But isn’t it worth trying?”

Vance had two things going in favor of that perspective. A deal with Iran would probably help Republicans politically by lowering gasoline prices. And the deal did deliver in that regard. That’s a welcome relief even if prices are higher than a year ago. High gas prices are extremely unpopular.

Vance’s logic also seemed to make sense. Most Americans might think that, from an Iranian perspective, the financial benefits of re-entering the world’s economy would be preferable to being bombed back to the Stone Age. Plus, many Americans don’t care about Iran. Better to ignore it and worry about our own hemisphere.

But here’s the mistake Vance made. Iran’s leadership doesn’t share the values — such as prioritizing human life and a desire for peace — that Americans take for granted. Iran’s terrorist leaders are waiting for the return of the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi, a messiah-like figure. They believe he will come only when Muslims have conquered the world. As a result, they don’t want peace with America. They want to murder non-Muslims.

Don’t take my word for it. At the funeral procession for Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, the crowds chanted “Death to America.” Those words aren’t coming from bored college students looking for social media clout. They’re coming from people who support a terrorist regime whose proxies have murdered hundreds of Americans over the decades. Iran also wants to assassinate Trump.

Contrary to what Vance claimed, there was a real downside to this temporary ceasefire. It gave Iran time to dig out and repair missiles and launchers.

Given Trump’s unpredictability in foreign policy, it’s doubtful his comments mean he doesn’t want a deal. He would be thrilled to have a resolution that left Iran without a nuclear weapon and oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.

But this is the inconvenience of foreign policy. Sometimes your enemy won’t do what you consider rational. The solution isn’t more pointless negotiations, but attacking until they agree to unconditional surrender.

Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.