Lying is a deep part of Iranian diplomatic culture and for good reason. It has been very effective – especially with European countries and various US administrations that prioritize diplomacy over action. Back in 1979, Jimmy Carter would have probably lost the election to Ronald Reagan without the fiasco of the Iranian hostage crisis. But the yearlong ordeal of watching United States citizens suffering blidnfolded in Iran with the United States seemingly unable to confront the new Ayatollahs showed the entire world that the United States had become a weak superpower.
Is this real or Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest movie?
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) April 29, 2026
Only in the United Nations would you see IRAN sitting on UN boards for women's rights, nuclear nonproliferation, and counterterrorism.@RepBrianMast exposes the @UN's hypocrisy: pic.twitter.com/pjBUsewfdt
But Carter and many leaders after him, tried to work the Iranian diplomatic channels. This played into the hands of the Iranian dictators. Carter had good reason to think that diplomacy had great value. After all, his signature foreign policy achievement was the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and that was accomplished in large part due to diplomatic maneuvering.
But there was and is a huge difference between leaders like Sadat and the Ayatollahs. No matter what one thinks about Sadat and his designs in coming to Israel to sign the accords, he was a leader that one could work with. He understood that even though Egypt had won a tactical victory against Israel at the start of the Yom Kippur War, Israel had won the war decisively, and Cairo was saved due to international pressure that was placed on Israel to have a ceasefire.
Sadat may have planned to attack Israel following the Camp David Accords or perhaps he really meant it when he declared “No more war.” Historians will be able to argue about this for decades. But more than four decades later, Israel has not been attacked by Egypt.
Dealing with the Iranian Ayatollahs is a whole different story. President Trump seems to be the only President that is not willing to buy into their lies. But the Iranians know that President Trump may become weakened in November if a Democrat majority is achieved in Congress. So the Iranians are stalling and lying, and hoping that they have a new Speaker of the House that will save them from President Trump by impeaching the President.
Trump seems more confident about not losing the midterms to Democrats than he should be. Hopefully he is playing it right as the endgame with Iran is getting closer and closer to the election season in the US. But if President Trump is wrong, whoever is still running Iran may find that they can hold on long enough to outlast the Trump administration’s pressure until November 2026.