Dumb Pitches Plan to Dumber

Donald Trump has pitched a 15-point peace plan to Iran through Pakistan.

Highlights of this plan reportedly include the following:

• A 30-day ceasefire.
• The dismantling of Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow.
• A permanent commitment from Iran to never develop nuclear weapons.
• The handover of Iran's stockpile of already enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and a commitment from Iran to allow the IAEA to monitor all elements of the country's remaining nuclear infrastructure. Iran must also no longer enrich uranium within the country.
• Limits on the range and number of Iran's missiles.
• Ending Iran's support for regional proxies.
• Ending Iranian strikes on regional energy facilities.
• Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
• A removal of all sanctions imposed on Iran, alongside the ending of the UN mechanism that allows sanctions to be reimposed.
• The provision of US support for electricity generation at Iran's Bushehr civil nuclear plant.

Assuming the above is accurate and representative, I can summarize this in a question and two sentences:

• Have we learned anything since 1979?
• Every single item but one pertaining to what we'd like from Iran has already been tried, with Iran reneging at least once; and
• Reopening the Straight of Hormuz is the ace up Iran's sleeve it won't give up since it's the only card they have left.

Fortunately, we have the means to take that card by force.

Also fortunately, Iran's fanatic leadership would appear to be effectively even dumber than our President, who won't be able to make up for his lack of planning by simply declaring victory:

"Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you," Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the headquarters, said in the video statement aired on state television. "Not now, not ever."

Good! The lemon of facing an intransigent, brutish foe might yet become the lemonade of a victory Trump is too dimwitted to pursue on his own initiative, even though winning is within reach.

-- CAV

P.S. Trump's long track record of breaking agreements may also be helping here, for a change. Some reports call the Iranian leadership "skeptical" and cite the earlier nuke site bombings during negotiations as the reason for this suspicion.