Iranian dissidents warn Trump of handing regime a victory it could never win on the battlefield in peace talks

Iranian dissidents are warning the Trump administration to stay tough and be wary of the Islamic Republic’s deception as it tries to end the war there.Last week’s 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran ended fighting and set the stage for 60 days of broader talks aimed at dismantling the regime’s nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.But members of the disapora say the US risks emboldening a regime that has repeatedly violated past commitments and has a long track record of repression and regional destabilization.“This agreement hands Iran a victory it could never win on the battlefield, just as Hamas and Hezbollah have repeatedly used ceasefires, not as peace, but as leverage to attack again,” said Pedram Bral, Iranian-born Republican Mayor of Great Neck. The fragile peace was tested Thursday as Iran attacked a Singaporean cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, which it has largely closed since the war, and threatened further action against “violators” who didn’t obey its routes.Babak Khodaparast, a cleantech entrepreneur and inventor born in Isfahan and currently based in Canada, said he felt let down by the Trump administration, which had previously expressed support for the Iranian people over engaging with the regime.

“I feel trust in the United States has been broken,” he said. “It brings me back to the view that Israel is [the Iranian people’s] only true friend, a relationship rooted in decades of history.The US has never fully understood the region, while Israel has lived with these realities and knows the players far better.” Several Iranian interviewees expressed concern that the state-to-state negotiations — which somewhat bafflingly did not include Israel — omitted the aspirations, plight and agency of ordinary Iranians. Maryam Banihashemi, a women’s right advocate based in Switzerland who was born and lived in Iran for 34 years, said she found it “deeply disappointing that the...