With renewed talk of a deal between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, much attention has focused on who holds real authority in Tehran. The declared Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son and purported heir to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not been seen publicly since his father was killed in American and Israeli air strikes on February 28. Whether he is alive, badly wounded, or operating through handlers, his absence raises a deeper question: who is truly controlling Iran? The...

I am not saying the goal of the United States is to do so, but any negotiation with the Islamic Republic only serves to keep the Islamic Republic regime alive. Another day. Another month. Another year. Another decade. And that, precisely, is the goal of the Islamic Republic. To stay alive. To control 90 million Iranians. To spread its extremist Islamic ideology across the world. And to threaten the United States, Israel, and the West at every turn. The goal of the United States and the...

I have been watching reports of negotiations between President Trump's administration and the Islamic Republic of Iran with an anguish that is difficult to put into words. I want to believe that my president understands what he is dealing with. I want to believe that this time will be different. I want to believe that he understands what I know as the truth about the Islamic Republic: that you can never negotiate with them, and they will always lie and do anything to stay in power, and in...