Follow us on social

Shutterstock_1605799204-scaled

There Are No Winners in a War With Iran

President Kennedy once said that, “Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.”

Analysis | Middle East

As we find ourselves on the brink of another unnecessary war in the Middle East, I am reminded of the night the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. At the time I was taking an international studies course titled, “Islam and the West.” Beyond teaching about the historical context that informed our contemporary politics, our professor’s objective was to give us the needed tools in order to “bridge the gap” between these erroneously divided worlds. Then a wide-eyed undergraduate student, my fellow classmates and I embodied the characteristic idealism of youth, the belief that with our convictions and our humanity we could change the course of events.

Then came the night of March 19, 2003, which was during our week of final exams, the university was open 24 hours a day so students could study. I will never forget the feeling of sitting in a study hall with so many students huddled around a television watching the news. You could hear a pin drop as we sat pensive and deflated. With little sleep and even less hopefulness, the next morning we walked into the final exam. I raised my hand and posed a simple question, what was the purpose of what we had learned, if we were powerless to prevent continuous conflict?

Our professor did something incredible in that moment. She reminded us that she herself had lived through the Lebanese Civil War and understood our dejection, but that things would only change if we continued the path, educated ourselves, and engaged in honest discussion with others. Despite the very real fear and feeling of despair I have now, I remind myself of her wisdom at a time when her young students were seeking inspiration.

Now, as an adult with the bitter experience of the Iraq war, we are on the precipice of a more disastrous conflict. We are a generation defined by those experiences, 9/11, the “war on terror,” Afghanistan, and Iraq. But in that class, all those years ago, my peers and I learned how every conflict we were facing had roots in the past, a cycle of violence that people in power explained away with less convincing arguments every day.

East and West are not clean divisions of “clashing civilizations,” they are historical constructs meant to divide human beings against each other. When the President of the United States threatens to destroy Iran’s cultural sites, it is not only an assault on Iran, but an attack on human history and civilization. Though on its surface the current conflict is between Iran and the United States, a war would reverberate through the world. As such, the international community should intervene and mediate an end to this escalation before it is truly too late.

Some will say those lines have already been crossed, but we always have choices, a cease-fire, a period of calm, a true negotiation, in short, diplomacy. Seventeen years ago, when we invaded Iraq, young and naive, I tried to appeal to people’s emotions. Now as an adult, I am still moved to tears as I write these words, but I have learned to appeal to logic. There is no hope in the foreseeable future to shed the mutual enmities of Iran and the U.S., a painful truth for an Iranian-American, but there is a way to reverse course and save the world from more futile destruction.

Though adversaries, our two countries — along with the international community — have already gone through arduous diplomacy, resulting in the nuclear deal. It is now weak but not dead, as seen by Iran’s most recent decision not to abandon the deal entirely. The framework of the deal exists, and Iran has specified that if sanctions are lifted and it obtains the benefits promised in the deal, that it will return to full compliance. The first step is to end the destructive cycle of violent escalation. But hitting the breaks is not enough, we must reverse course entirely, a reset to the last point in which we remember not being in tense conflict. That is the nuclear deal.

President Kennedy once said that, “Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.” The negotiations that facilitated the nuclear deal are precisely the sum of small acts that Kennedy envisioned — not a perfect peace, not one where all are friends, but a peace among adversaries. A model for cooperation, which can be replicated to address the ever-growing challenges that we face as a planet.

Upon reflection, I may still hold the hopeful idealism of the student I was before March 19, 2003. You may think I’m naive to believe war can be averted now — as it looks like it may have for the moment — and a fool for advocating still for a deal many call dead. But, one may argue it is naive to believe such a war will have a “winner” and even more foolish to think the human cost can be justified. Now more than ever, anti-war voices are crucial to end the madness of our ineffective policies. No matter the coming days, weeks or even years, I will continue to move irresistibly towards peace, the alternative is unbearable to imagine.


Analysis | Middle East
Russia train derailment
Top photo credit: Specialists of emergency services work at the scene, after a road bridge collapsed onto railway tracks due to an explosion in the Bryansk region, Russia, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

What the giddy reaction to Ukraine's surprise attacks says about us

Europe

A little over forty years ago, while preparing for a weekly radio address, President Ronald Reagan famously cracked wise about the possibility of attacking the Soviet Union. “I have signed legislation that outlaws Russia forever,” he said. “We begin bombing in five minutes.”

Reagan had not realized that the studio microphone was recording his joke and that technical personnel preparing for the broadcast in stations across the country were already listening. His facetious remarks were leaked. The public reaction was immediate, strong, and negative. Democratic candidate Walter Mondale admonished his election opponent for ill-considered humor, and Reagan’s polling numbers took a temporary hit.

keep readingShow less
Is Trump's ambassador to Israel going off-script?
Top photo credit: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visits the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Is Trump's ambassador to Israel going off-script?

Washington Politics

As the Trump administration continues to try to broker a nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu has not been a willing partner in those efforts.

The two spoke Monday evening, but Israel’s government has threatened strikes on Iran that could upend a deal. When Trump bypassed Israel on his Middle East trip last month, many saw it as a snub to Netanyahu.

keep readingShow less
Boeing
Top image credit: EVERETT (WA), USA – JANUARY 30 2015: Unidentified Boeing employees continue work building its latest Boeing 777 jets at its Everett factory (First Class Photography / Shutterstock.com)

A nuclear deal with Iran could generate billions for US economy

Middle East

As the U.S. and Iran engage in fraught rounds of nuclear talks, deep distrust, past failures, and mounting pressure from opponents continue to hinder progress. Washington has reverted to its old zero-enrichment stance, a policy that, in 2010, led Iran to increase uranium enrichment from under 5% to 20%. Tehran remains equally entrenched, insisting, “No enrichment, no deal, No nuclear weapons, we have a deal.”

In Washington, the instinct is to tighten the screws on Tehran, make military threats credible, and explore strike options to force capitulation. Yet history shows that these coercive tactics often fail. Sanctions have not secured compliance and have proven costly to U.S. interests. Military strikes are unlikely to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capabilities; instead, they risk convincing Tehran to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.