Give at least a couple of cheers for coercive diplomacy, which is to say diplomacy through bombing. As the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz told us a couple hundred years ago, “war is the continuation of politics,” or diplomacy, “by other means.”
Last week’s bombing may well have finally pushed Iran and all their internal factions to at least signing a memo of understanding that represents at least the beginning of the end of the war.
President Trump is a master at coercive diplomacy. He’s also a master of psychological warfare diplomacy with his threats to destroy Iran’s infrastructure, such as power, bridges, water, etcetera. He even kept Kharg island, the apex of Iran’s energy industry, in play as well.
The full text of the memo might come at the end of the week with a formal signing ceremony, as Mr. Trump said today at the G-7 meeting in France.
Asked by a reporter “when will the text of the MOU be released,” Mr. Trump replied: “I think pretty soon I would say I mean, I want it to be released because it’s a very powerful document. It’s not like the Obama document, which was just a terrible document. This is a very powerful document and I want it to be released. So probably pretty soon, I would say after sometime after Friday, of course, the Strait opens.”
And though we await all of the details, it seems that the president is keeping all his promises to the American people. And, for that matter, to the defeated and surrendering Iranians. They may never acknowledge their surrender, but they are surrendering.
Mr. Trump has said no nuclear weapons for Iran, and that’s in the deal. He has said that the nuclearized enriched uranium must be transferred out of Iran or destroyed altogether. White House sources maintain that’s in the deal.
He has promised a free navigation reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without any Iranian tolls, and that’s in the deal. Here’s what the president said today on Iranian nukes, again from the G-7 in France: “the main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. They fully agreed to that with strong policing powers, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon, which is what it was all about, because they probably would have used it if they had it.”
Now Mr. Trump has also said no money for Iran unless and until they completely change their behavior. And there will be strict performance metrics for all these Trumpian red lines. Again, here’s the president earlier today on this point.
Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter whether the deal will “involve any sanctions relief for Iran?” and if so, “when would that go into effect?”
The president replied: “No it doesn’t. Well, they have to. It’s really a behavioral thing. If they do what they’re supposed to do, that starts taking effect.”
Now all the administration people keep talking about verification. Verify, verify, verify.
I understand in all these areas the devil is in the operational details necessary to execute this memorandum of understanding. All that has to be worked out.
We all know Iran has absolutely no credibility on any of these points. That’s why I don’t think anyone can say the war is yet over. Yet I will amend Ronald Reagan, we never trust Iran. And that’s even more reason why we must verify, verify, and verify.
I also recognize that Israel, our great ally and comrade in arms, may still have a lot more work to do to defend its freedom.
Let’s step back a moment, though, and recognize that Mr. Trump has crushed Iran militarily through Epic Fury. Mr. Trump and the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, have crushed Iran financially through economic fury. And special mention to our United States Navy for their steel-door blockade of Iranian ports.
Lots of former presidents have railed against Iran. But no one has remotely done what Mr. Trump has done to curb the gruesome, diabolical, evil, radical Islamist outlaws that Mr. Trump has done. No one.
And that’s why I believe people of good faith who want to see freedom truly come to the middle east should support the Trumpian memorandum of understanding and turn that into an actual verifiable agreement.
Larry Kudlow is a columnist for the New York Sun. From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.
