EXTRA: Skepticism About The Mullahs & Ceasefire
On June 23, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a “complete and total ceasefire” between Israel and Iran, ostensibly ending a 12-day conflict that rattled the Middle East. The agreement, hailed as a diplomatic triumph, promises a phased 24-hour de-escalation: Iran halts its military actions first, Israel follows, and both sides are expected to maintain a veneer of “peaceful and respectful” conduct.
Yet, beneath this glossy surface lies a troubling reality: the Iranian mullahs, architects of decades of regional chaos, cannot be trusted to honor any commitment to peace. Their history of deceit, rooted in the Islamic tenet of hudna—a tactical truce often exploited to rearm and regroup—casts a long shadow over this fragile accord. This ceasefire, far from a pathway to lasting peace, risks becoming a dangerous interlude in Iran’s relentless pursuit of hegemony and terror.
The Ceasefire: A Flimsy Framework
The terms of the ceasefire are as vague as they are unenforceable. Over 24 hours, Iran is to initiate a halt to hostilities, with Israel reciprocating 12 hours later. Both sides are permitted to complete “final missions” already underway, a loophole that invites continued aggression under the guise of wrapping up operations. Reports of explosions in Tehran shortly after Trump’s announcement suggest that neither side is rushing to comply.
The absence of immediate confirmation from Israel or Iran further erodes confidence in the agreement’s legitimacy. Brokered through Qatar’s mediation, this deal hinges on the goodwill of a regime that has spent 47 years sowing discord. To believe the mullahs will uphold their end is to ignore their track record of broken promises and clandestine maneuvering.
The ceasefire’s structure lacks any mechanism for verification or enforcement. Who monitors compliance? What penalties exist for violations? These unanswered questions expose the accord as a diplomatic mirage, designed more for political optics than for enduring stability. The mullahs, masters of obfuscation, are likely to exploit this ambiguity, using the pause to replenish their depleted arsenals and regroup their battered forces.
The Islamic Republic’s commitment to peace is as credible as a wolf’s pledge to vegetarianism.
Hudna: A Tactic of Deception
Central to the skepticism surrounding Iran’s intentions is the Islamic concept of hudna, a temporary truce historically used to secure strategic advantages. While hudna can be a legitimate tool for peace in Islamic jurisprudence, Islamists—particularly Iran’s theocratic elite—have weaponized it to deceive adversaries.
The mullahs have repeatedly employed such truces to buy time, rearm, and reorganize for future conflicts. Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, has used ceasefires to rebuild its missile stockpiles. Hamas, another Iranian client, leveraged hudnas to fortify Gaza before launching fresh assaults on Israel. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), sold as a curb on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, became a financial windfall that fueled its ballistic missile program and regional militias.
The current ceasefire fits neatly into this pattern. Iran’s nuclear facilities, reportedly crippled by US and Israeli strikes, require time to recover. Its economy, battered by sanctions and war, needs breathing room. A hudna-style truce allows the mullahs to stabilize their regime, redirect resources to their Revolutionary Guards, and plot their next move.
The absence of explicit stipulations addressing Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, or proxy networks in the ceasefire terms is a glaring omission. Without ironclad commitments to dismantle these threats, the agreement is little more than a pause button on Iran’s campaign of terror.
A Missed Opportunity for Peace
The ceasefire’s failure to address Iran’s broader malign activities—its nuclear ambitions, its sponsorship of terrorism, its oppression of its own people—underscores its inadequacy as a pathway to ending the conflict. The mullahs’ regime thrives on external conflict to justify its iron grip on power.
A true resolution would require dismantling the Islamic Republic’s terror infrastructure, from Hezbollah to the Houthis, and curbing its nuclear program permanently. Instead, this ceasefire grants Iran a reprieve, allowing it to regroup and resume its destabilizing activities under a thin veil of diplomacy.
The US, having flexed its military muscle to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities, now risks squandering its leverage. Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Iran is “incapable of building a nuclear weapon with current equipment” is a temporary victory, not a guarantee of long-term security. The mullahs have proven adept at clandestine nuclear development, as evidenced by their pre-2025 advances toward weapons-grade uranium. Without intrusive inspections and enforceable constraints, Iran’s nuclear threat will resurface, emboldened by the regime’s survival of this latest conflict.
The Mullahs’ Enduring Threat
For 47 years, Iran’s theocratic regime has oppressed its people, crushed dissent, and exported terror worldwide. The mullahs’ commitment to peace is a fiction, belied by their support for atrocities in Syria, Yemen, and beyond. This ceasefire, far from a triumph, needs to be received as a capitulation to a regime that thrives on chaos. The world’s naivety in trusting the mullahs’ word is not just misguided—it’s dangerous.
The true tragedy of this moment is the missed opportunity to dismantle the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. The 12-day war exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities: its military stretched thin, its economy in tatters, its people simmering with resentment. A decisive push—militarily, economically, and diplomatically—could have toppled the mullahs, liberating Iran’s 85 million citizens from their tyrannical yoke and neutralizing a global menace. Instead, the ceasefire props up a failing regime, granting it a lifeline to perpetuate its reign of terror.
History will judge this moment not as a step toward peace, but as a betrayal of the true Persian-Iranian people and a squandered chance to rid the world of its most insidious threat.
God have mercy on us all.
