Not even the most optimistic expected the agreement between Tehran and Washington to lead to anything, and that it was prone to early setbacks, and that it would be held hostage for a while, as trust between America and Iran is at its worst since the Khomeini revolution in 1979 and until now.

* *

Therefore, it was not surprising that the first meeting held to set a roadmap for implementing this agreement, which stipulated a ceasefire for sixty days, which could be extended for additional days, in order to implement the clauses that were accepted by both sides through Pakistani-Qatari mediation, failed.

* *

Each side was waiting for the other to violate this agreement to provide a justification for tearing up what had been agreed upon, resuming fighting, and blaming the other. America found this when Iran damaged one of the ships that tried to cross the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the American response and retaliation from the Iranian side.

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Now that the Iranian-American battles have gotten out of control and escalated beyond the hands of the mediators, and even beyond Washington and Tehran, the end is unknown, especially if Israel later joins these battles when it receives a signal from President Trump.

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However, expanding the fields of conflict does not serve the stability of the region, nor does it provide a suitable environment for untangling the knot of American demands and Iranian counter-demands, while the damaged side is Iran, which has no options other than those dictated and imposed by the United States of America, and it must accept them even if it has to swallow poison, as Khomeini did in the eight-year war with Iraq.

* *

The worst aspect of the Iranian position is its focus on avenging America by directing its strikes at the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which have no involvement in this war, while ignoring Israel, which is helping America and has a US military base for this purpose.

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Even worse, Iran is throwing itself into a war in which it cannot face American forces now, let alone the joint Israeli-American forces, which has cost it much in lost leadership and the destruction of the country, putting Iran in a situation that requires decades to return to what it was before the war.

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Perhaps the wise in Iran will draw from this war a set of useful lessons for themselves and their country in the future, including: abandoning the idea of expansion and creating militias in some countries that pledge allegiance to it, and sincerely moving towards cooperation with its neighbors without interfering in their internal affairs, and starting economic partnerships with them.

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Iran needs wise men, rational people, and leaders who can read history well and deal with geography recognizing that just as they have rights, their neighbors also have rights, and they will not accept any infringement upon them, regardless of the scale of sacrifices. States are protected by their peoples and the blood of their children, without giving them up or tolerating a greedy enemy.