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John,
In May 2024, following the death of Iranian president Raisi, the Iranian people overwhelmingly elected Masoud Pezeshkian who campaigned on reconnecting with the west, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and a generally more liberal foreign policy.
The Iranian people elected Pezeshkian because they saw him as an off ramp to a dangerous cycle of escalation between Iran and Israel. Pezeshkian tried to hold true to his mandate until the bitter end…
In August, Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, in the Iranian capital Tehran, a major offense against the nation’s sovereignty. The Supreme Leader of Iran
Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp pushed to retaliate for the strike. But the new president still argued to not retaliate but to seek accommodation through negotiations.
According to the Associated Press, The US promised Pezeshkian that if Iran did not retaliate on Haniyeh’s murder, Iran would receive massive sanctions relief along with a negotiated ceasefire in Gaza. Look at what it got them:
The Iranians finally learned the talks were a ruse when Israeli air-strikes killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah and a major architect of the Iran led Axis of Resistance, along with the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel then launched a ground operation into Lebanon.
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