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Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen issued a stark warning against offering financial concessions to Iran in any upcoming diplomatic agreements, warning that the regime remains an existential threat despite being heavily crippled by recent military actions.
Speaking on Fox News, Thiessen argued that providing sanctions relief or unfreezing assets would prematurely rescue a regime that he asserts is fundamentally radical and incapable of moderate reform.
While acknowledging that recent military operations and a tight U.S.-led naval blockade have pushed the country to the brink of collapse, Thiessen emphasized that the danger has not passed.
He urged the administration not to offer any economic relief that could allow the leadership to rebuild its forces.
“My big concern with a deal is that the Iranians are down but they’re not out,” Thiessen stated. “They’re on their backs as you say, but they could get up. We should not give them a hand to help them up by giving them a dime as part of any deal.”
Thiessen pointed to the ongoing economic blockade as a highly effective tool that, alongside previous air campaigns, has left the country vulnerable.
“Then I forgot the blockade it’s absolutely crushing their economy,” he added. “So they’re economically crushed, they’re militarily crushed, but they are not giving up.”
In his commentary, the columnist rejected the idea that diplomacy could produce a moderate Iranian state.
He drew a direct historical parallel to total war regimes of the past, arguing that the underlying ideology of the Islamic Republic prevents them from abandoning their long-term military goals.
“They’re like the Nazis. There are no moderate Nazis. There are no moderate Islamic radicals in Iran,” Thiessen argued. “They want to survive. They want a nuclear weapon because they want to use it, and so they’re going to keep going.”
