Trump said he’d save the Iranian people, but his deal saves the regime - opinion

Reports indicate an emerging deal to end the war in Iran involves opening the Strait of Hormuz, providing Iran's regime with significant sanctions relief, estimated at $25 billion, and requiring Tehran to surrender its enriched uranium. The agreement's primary stated goal is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

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These are the president’s points consistently

Secretary of State Marco Rubio summarized the U.S. position, emphasizing the need for open straits, a nuclear-free Iran, and the turnover of enriched uranium. However, the article argues this deal falls short of President Donald Trump's initial objectives announced on February 28. Those objectives included destroying Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, annihilating its navy, neutralizing its terrorist proxies, and preventing a nuclear weapon. Crucially, Trump also directly addressed the Iranian people, urging them to seize control of their government, suggesting their "hour of freedom is at hand."

The author contends that the current negotiations, as summarized by Rubio, omit the destruction of Iran's proxy network and the dismantling of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC did not surrender its weapons nor face significant defeat, remaining intact. The piece questions why the Iranian people did not rise up as Trump encouraged, positing that an unarmed population cannot overthrow a fully operational security apparatus.

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To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard,” he said, “I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death.

The gap between Trump's initial rhetoric and the reported terms of the deal suggests a failure to achieve the stated goal of liberating the Iranian people. The article posits that Trump's call for an uprising could only have been effective if the military campaign had severely weakened the IRGC, which it apparently did not. The ceasefire's implementation before such degradation occurred left the Iranian people without the means to act on Trump's call.

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The hour of your freedom is at hand. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations. For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight.