Just three weeks after it was signed, the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran is on life support.
Tehran’s promise to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for international shipping turned out to be about as trustworthy as every other major promise the Islamic Republic has ever made.
As the regime was busy staging the lavish funeral for its recently eliminated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian forces went ahead and attacked three commercial vessels transiting the strait.
The United States struck nearly 100 military targets across Iran in response.
Now President Trump has dismissed the negotiations as a “waste of time,” casting aside any diplomatic niceties by describing Iran’s rulers in stark terms: “liars,” “cuckoo,” “sick people,” “scum.”
And he’s right. Unlike much of Washington, Trump has long grasped that the Islamic Republic negotiates only to keep itself afloat.
Get tough with regime
During his first term, Trump pulled the plug on former President Barack Obama’s deeply flawed nuclear deal, imposed severe sanctions, and ordered the elimination of Qassem Soleimani, the mastermind behind Iran’s global terrorist network.
In his second term, he twice deployed American military power against the regime — first in June 2025 and again this year.
Yet Tehran seemed convinced it could simply recycle the same playbook that had worked for decades.
The strategy? Offer negotiations. Buy time. Secure sanctions relief. Drive a wedge between the United States and its allies. Rebuild military capabilities. Fund terrorist proxies.
Ramp up missile production.
And, of course, preserve the nuclear program until the next opportune moment.
For years, this strategy worked because Western governments were genuinely desperate for diplomacy to succeed.
This time, however, Iran badly miscalculated. To be fair, mixed signals emanating from Washington might have contributed to that mistake.
On the one hand, the Trump administration promised Iran major sanctions relief. At other moments, it’s issued warnings of devastating military consequences should Iran fail to comply.
These contradictory messages apparently convinced Tehran that it could once again manipulate the process to its advantage.
Follow The Post’s coverage on the latest in the peace deal with Iran:
- Iran to close Strait of Hormuz as it vows mass retaliation against US attacks: report
- US bombing Iran for 2nd straight day after Trump declares cease-fire with ‘sick’ regime ‘over’
- Iran’s ‘golden weapon’ of Strait of Hormuz became a greater priority than its nuclear program — here’s how
- Iran ‘definitely’ possesses chemical weapons, would not hesitate to kill Americans: Netanyahu
The lesson for the US is that it must stop negotiating with a regime that weaponizes negotiations. The objective shouldn’t just be limiting uranium enrichment: It needs to end permanently, with rigorous verification. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure must be dismantled, and its enriched uranium stockpile completely removed.
That requires reinstating maximum pressure across every single front. We need to reimpose the blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran’s ability to export oil must be permanently revoked. Frozen assets should remain frozen, rather than being used to finance the regime’s next bout of aggression.
Crushing sanctions need to be enforced, with no loopholes. The president should direct the US military to win the Battle of Hormuz. He should establish an maritime insurance organization, backed by billions from countries vulnerable to the closure of Hormuz and other critical maritime chokepoints.
Worth the risks
Washington also shouldn’t tolerate Tehran using proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen to bully negotiators.
The regime has shown economic incentives do not stop its revolutionary ambitions.
Yes, renewed confrontation carries risks. Oil prices could spike, and political calendars may become more complicated. But those are manageable costs.
Allowing the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to rebuild its power under the guise of yet another failed negotiation is far more dangerous.
Lasting change will have to come from the Iranian people themselves, who have consistently demonstrated extraordinary courage in confronting their oppressors.
Trump should direct his intelligence community to develop a plan to provide maximum support to the Iranian people, aimed at crippling the regime.
Trump has recognized that the Islamic Republic exploits diplomacy as a strategy of delay, deception and, ultimately, survival. The mistake now would be giving Tehran another opportunity to prove that point.
Mark Dubowitz is chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The post The time for talk is over — Trump needs to get tough with Iran appeared first on New York Post.
