The hardest question about ending the war with Iran belongs in Washington. What place can Iran occupy after the fighting stops? A country left economically excluded, unable to rebuild and exposed to renewed attack has little reason to regard a ceasefire as a durable ending. The war cannot be politically settled while Iranian recovery remains an unacceptable outcome.

The latest diplomacy leaves that question unresolved. Tehran has received US feedback, through Qatar, on a seven-day trust-building proposal. Yet on 1 October, the US Treasury expanded sanctions against Iran’s automotive and rail sectors, alongside manufacturing and steel networks. Talks about ending the confrontation are proceeding alongside measures that further restrict Iran’s capacity to sustain its economy.

Behind this tension lies a conflict over political existence. Iran’s civilisational understanding of statehood draws on historical continuity, territorial integrity and independence.

Behind this tension lies a conflict over political existence. Iran’s civilisational understanding of statehood draws on historical continuity, territorial integrity and independence.

The Islamic Republic connects these claims to a revolutionary and religious account of its purpose. Ali Khamenei’s 2019 Second Phase statement, with its emphasis on building an Islamic civilisation, expressed that connection explicitly. Security, within this understanding, includes the capacity to continue a political project.

Israel also brings historical and theological claims to its modern statehood. Netanyahu has described it as the Middle East’s sole true democracy. In his September UN address, he invoked the Jewish people’s three-thousand-year history and biblical attachment to the land while anticipating the Iranian government’s fall.

The conflict therefore involves competing accounts of political legitimacy, each connecting present security to a larger historical narrative.

The conflict therefore involves competing accounts of political legitimacy, each connecting present security to a larger historical narrative.

Different understandings of statehood do not make war inevitable. The........

© Middle East Monitor