Avi Benlolo: Negotiating with Iran isn't just dangerous — it's delusional

The Trump administration’s effort to re-engage with Iran on its nuclear program is not just a misguided diplomatic strategy, it’s a dangerous fantasy. Iran has repeatedly proven itself untrustworthy, belligerent and incapable of adhering to any agreements with the West. Any renewed attempt to negotiate with the regime is not only futile, but reckless.

The Iranian people, many of whom have bravely resisted their theocratic government, are not the problem. We have seen the courage of ordinary Iranians, especially women, who took to the streets during the Mahsa Amini protests, risking their lives to push back against religious tyranny. Their yearning for freedom and dignity stands in stark contrast to the regime’s fanatical obsession with exporting revolution and terror.



The problem is with the Iranian leadership, who have turned the country into the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Documents uncovered in Gaza have confirmed what many of us long suspected: Iran was directly involved in planning the barbaric Hamas assault on Israel that took place on Oct. 7, 2023.

Iran funded and trained Hamas operatives, making it complicit in unleashing mass terror on Israeli civilians. And this was not an isolated event — it was a continuation of Iran’s decades-long strategy of surrounding Israel with terror proxies: Hamas in Gaza; Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Houthis in Yemen; Iranian military entrenchment in Syria under the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad. These are not distant regional conflicts — they are co-ordinated, strategic fronts in Iran’s war against Israel and the West.

Even when Israel succeeds in degrading these terror networks, Iran continues working tirelessly to resupply and rearm them. Let us not forget the most brazen attack to date: Iran’s direct assault on Israel in April 2024. Hundreds of projectiles — including ballistic missiles, drones and rockets — were launched at Israeli civilian centres.

The intent was clear: mass casualties and national devastation. Only Israel’s sophisticated defence systems and allied co-operation prevented a catastrophe. And yet, despite this overt act of war, western powers remain inexplicably interested in sitting across a negotiating table from the very regime that orchestrated it.

This kind of appeasement is not diplomacy — it’s delusion. While negotiations continue, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, does not even pretend to hide his intentions. In just the past week, he has tweeted calls for the destruction of Israel and the mobilization of the Islamic world against the Jewish state.

“The Zionists should be awaiting the lashes of God’s punishment,” he declared. In another chilling message, he wrote, “The Islamic world must take coordinated action against Zionist regime’s crimes, politically, economically, and, if necessary, in carrying out operations.” These are not idle threats.

They are the proclamations of a regime that’s committed to genocide, voiced by a theocrat with the power to enforce them. For decades, the West has clung to the illusion that Iran’s behaviour can be moderated through incentives and dialogue. But the regime has exploited every round of negotiations to buy time, develop covert capabilities and expand its regional influence.

Meanwhile, the world turns a blind eye, hoping that words will contain a nuclear ambition backed by messianic fanaticism. October 7 should have been the final wake-up call. It revealed not only Hamas’s brutality, but Iran’s central role in orchestrating a new axis of terror.

We cannot afford to treat Iran like just another rational actor on the world stage. Its ideology is not pragmatic — it’s apocalyptic. It is time for a new approach.

The West must deliver Iran an unambiguous ultimatum: dismantle your nuclear program, end your support for terrorism and restore basic human freedoms to your people, or face the full consequences of continued defiance. This is not just about protecting Israel. It is about safeguarding global stability, defending democratic values and standing with the Iranian people, who deserve to be liberated from tyranny.

Negotiating with evil does not bring peace. It invites more evil. The Iranian regime has shown the world exactly who it is.

Now the world must respond with clarity, courage and conviction. National Post Avi Benlolo is founder and CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, a Canadian think-tank. Andrew Richter: Iran's nuclear ambitions could soon lead it straight into warJesse Kline: Israel, U.

S. should seize opportunity to destroy Iran's nuclear program.