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Iran Defiant; Israel's Security Doctrine Fractures
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis interviews Alastair Crooke, 11 May 2026
Mr Crooke is always brilliant, generous and full of knowledge!
It's really important for us to have the truth about the reality.
Thanks a lot for all the information and knowledge!
There is so much truth in this interview, and there is so many mistakes by both sides. The problem with this is Iran is mirroring Trump - no give, all grab. The only possible way out of this situation is by creating illusions.
I realize that everyone - including me - think that Trump's impossible demands are a dead end. The entire world is, at this time, becoming more and more anti-US. But let's face it, there are 2 groups of people that are involved here. At some point, the world is going to notice that there are 2 groups that are intentionally preventing the world economy from recovering, that the populations are NOT going to separate the two, saying one side is bad and the other side is innocent. Let me put it bluntly - If it was my child that is suffering and slowly dying from starvation, do you honestly believe that I am going to say one is bad and the other is good? The truth is, if it was within my power, I would shoot both, not one or the other, because it is both of these groups acting stubbornly and selfishly in their own interests that are causing my child to die.
It is time for Iran to recognize that the point is coming that they will not be the victim of an illegal war, they will be a partner in an attack on the rest of the world. It has come time to say, is there a way we can get what we are asking for and do it in a way that allow the other side to be able to give it?
I would suggest that virtually the only sticking points in Iran's demands ARE reparation and the ownership of the Straits of Hormuz, if you will, and stopping the fighting in Lebanon. Can this be, in anyway, done in a way that gives Trump his exit? First, talk a deal with the US, not with the "allies." Trump cannot speak for Israel, but it is not impossible that an agreement between Iran and the US could be created where Trump could say that the US will guarantee that it will not attack Iran in the future nor support Israel in any way if it does so. And by the same token, Iran can then feel free to find a deal with Israel, or continue its war. That will not be interfered in by any way by the US. The US cannot prevent Israel from attacking Lebanon, but if Iran chooses to side with Lebanon, that is their choice.
The other two parts are perhaps easier. It is not impossible that Trump could be able to announce a humanitarian withdrawal from this war - "because the world economy needs the opportunity to recover. This unintended consequence fostered on the world by this war, has changed the strategic reasons for this war. We realize that we can find a better way to achieve what we feel needs to be achieved.
"We realize as well, the sad humanitarian effects this war has had on Iran as well. We are willing to loan Iran the money to rebuild and will find honorable terms for repayment. And we believe it is not unreasonable that Iran does manage the Straits, collecting fees, as a means to help recover as well, as long as these fees are also used to help the other gulf states rebuild their damaged civilian infrastructure, with the understanding that at some point in the future, when the country has recovered, it will rethink the need for application of these fees."
The point is, the loans would never be repaid, they would be, in essence "reparation" without it being so. The control of the Hormuz is left with Iran but with a "sense" of ending at some point, and the money to be used for civilian infrastructure repair in the gulf states as well, won't necessarily look like a loss. Trump doesn't win, but Trump doesn't lose, either, and ending the war will help him at home.
Something along this nature can work, but stubbornly wanting to make a loser out of the other guy will only bring more pain to the world, and in the end, Iran will be every bit the pariah that Israel and the US will be as well. Iran can win and lose at the same time. They really are the only ones that have a choice between winning. And yes, it takes two to tango, and the US has to be a willing dance partner in this.