Trump is snookered on Iran. Walking away may be his least worst option

May 11, 2026 — 3:45pm

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Washington: Iran has delivered its response to the US’s one-page pitch for peace, and it’s not good.

“I don’t like it – TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” was Donald Trump’s appraisal of the Iranians’ position.

For weeks, the US president has teased of an imminent deal with Iran to end the war, based on the claim that Iran has been summarily defeated on the battlefield; its air force destroyed and its navy at the bottom of the gulf.

Experts on Iran, however, have consistently warned that military victory does not necessarily translate to strategic triumph. They have argued that Trump and his coterie of diplomatic novices fundamentally misunderstand the Iranian regime – which, contrary to their assertions, still stands.

‘I don’t like it’: Trump blasts Iran’s ‘unacceptable’ response to US proposal to end war

One often extends Trump the benefit of the doubt – he has humbled the foreign policy establishment before – but only for so long. Despite the US turning the screws on Tehran with a naval blockade and a new wave of economic sanctions, the regime is not buckling.

“Iran does not........

© The Age