Dr. Raz Zimmt, head of the Iran and Shiite Axis program at the Institute for National Security Studies, said Tuesday on 103FM that U.S. concessions in talks with Iran amount to paying Tehran’s demands. He argued that the American team was dealing with ideologues as if it were a real estate negotiation, saying, “This is what happens when you let real estate dealers negotiate with Islamic revolutionaries.”
Zimmt said the dispute is not only ideological or tied to Lebanese interests, but also to Iran’s deep commitment to the resistance axis and its view of the struggle as existential. He said Iran has lived under economic sanctions for 47 years, so the regime is willing to absorb costs far more easily than many others.
He warned that there may already be written or verbal understandings between Iran and the United States. In his reading, the latest reported arrangements favor Iranian interests, including relief from sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the release of $12 billion in frozen funds, with $6 billion expected soon from Qatar. He said Iran is getting major economic benefits while still committing on paper to agreements that may or may not be implemented.
According to Zimmt, an earlier memorandum was meant primarily to solve the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said was Donald Trump’s main concern. He said Washington accepted Iran’s demand to postpone other issues to later stages. He added that Iran quickly realized, after moving to close the strait, how much damage it could inflict on the world economy, and used that leverage to seek gains on multiple fronts. Zimmt said Trump likely feared the wider consequences of closing the strait, and the focus shifted from war, regime change, nuclear issues or missiles to reopening the waterway.
