Harold Rhode
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, May 12, 2024
“Let’s continue the reasoning: How did? That is a miracle, even by scientific standards! Does this mean that Allah is against them? If so, what is Iran doing wrong? We have heard multiple answers to this question.”
Political leaders make policy based on their perceptions, not those of others. Americans/Westerners tend to believe that people who speak good English think like Americans. They don’t. Even worse, some of the West’s worst enemies speak superb English; they use this skill against us. We ignore this fact at our peril.
Javad Zarif, Iran’s then-foreign minister, bamboozled then-President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry into submitting to Iran’s demands in what began the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) —which was, in essence, American submission to Iran’s will. Zarif bragged about this in his tell-all book in Persian.
We cannot understand the attack on Iran’s senior IRGC leaders in Damascus on April 1, 2024, which many attribute to Israel, and the subsequent Iranian attack on Israel without taking the above into account.
Iranians constantly worry about a “Grand Conspiracy” (in Persian Tote-e-ye Bozorg) against them and their country. The events of the past few weeks fit perfectly into this mindset.
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