Trump and Khamenei’s War of Choice

Karim Sadjadpour: “The U.S.-Iran war—or, to be accurate, its latest, and most dramatic iteration—grew from a high-stakes exchange of miscalculations between two men. Donald Trump and Ali Khamenei have little in common except for a vainglorious hubris that has distorted their strategic choices. For Trump, the conflict is a high-risk, high-reward gambit—the ultimate deal, with the Middle East as the table. For Khamenei, whose official compound was targeted by air strikes, it is something simpler and older: a fight for survival.”

“Trump’s hubris is a matter of performative strength. He has based his brand on being the ultimate dealmaker, making military action more palatable to him than even the appearance of having been out-negotiated. Khamenei’s hubris is a matter of ideological rigidity. He sees his theocracy as divinely mandated and has just presided over a historic mass murder to secure his rule. His focus is not on appearances, but on the cold mechanics of survival.”