Ron Agam

In 1815, Talleyrand arrived at the Congress of Vienna representing a defeated nation. France had burned Europe for two decades and lost. 

There is a pattern by now, and it has a rhythm. Iran attacks shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington responds. 

There comes a moment when diplomacy stops being wisdom and becomes self-deception.That moment arrives every time Western leaders convince themselves that the Iranian regime has changed.

Israel needs strength and diplomacy. Treating them as enemies is the real danger.

The central mistake of every weak agreement with Tehran is the same: it assumes that the Islamic Republic can be persuaded to behave like a normal state. 

The stakes in the confrontation with Iran extend far beyond the Middle East. If Tehran emerges from this crisis looking stronger, the damage will not be confined to Israel or the Gulf. 

President Trump understands something most diplomats refuse to acknowledge: the Middle East cannot remain a museum of old hatred. 

When leaders gather in Evian (France) next month, they will do what they always do: negotiate, issue a communiqué, and leave believing they have accomplished something. 

America has the cards. Iran is betting on its hesitation.

There are bad deals. There are weak deals. And then there are deals that dress surrender as diplomacy, and ask Israel to applaud while the knife is being sharpened.

America has to stop lying to itself about Iran. The United States is not being dragged into a war because of Israel. 

I am not a diplomat or a security analyst. My passion in life has always been to build bridges, to use whatever reach I had to move things in a positive direction.