A steady drip of news issuing from the Middle East suggests that the U.S. and Iran are not making much progress toward a final resolution of the war. On Monday, the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. On Wednesday, Iran fired on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing two of them to the Iranian shore. Overnight into Thursday, U.S. forces boarded another sanctioned vessel transporting Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.

An observer might almost conclude that the U.S. and Iran were engaged in a tit-for-tat cycle of retaliatory vessel seizures. In fact, from Iran’s point of view, that is exactly what is happening. “One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” insisted First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref on social media. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”

The message is clear: whenever the Iranian regime suffers from American attacks, it believes it has a legitimate right to retaliate with an attack on anyone. The rogue regime embraced this strategy early in the war by responding to U.S. attacks on Iranian military infrastructure with indiscriminate attacks against civilians in all neighboring states and a total cessation of all non-Iran-controlled maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Militarily, these actions make little sense. By attacking its neighbors, Iran alienated them and all but pushed them into America’s corner.

However, Iran is trying to maneuver onto favorable diplomatic ground. The Iranian regime never had the means to inflict significant pain on America itself, which is far beyond its missile range and has assembled unstoppable military power in the region. But Iran can hit other nations. By attacking them, Iran is trying to introduce a principle of solidarity to the war and force the U.S. to defend the entire region from Iran — a move that would overextend U.S. forces.

The Iranian regime is acting like a movie supervillain who tries to distract the protective hero by threatening to kill innocent bystanders. This is not playing fair, and everyone knows it.

But does anyone expect better from the Iranian regime? This is the state sponsor of Hamas, a genocidal terror group that kidnapped some 200 Israelis on October 7, 2023, then bartered away their freedom for political favors over the next two years. Iran sponsors Hamas because they are ideological allies, and their shared ideology approves of this callous exploitation of human life, so long as it is in service to their misguided cause.

The U.S. wages war by different principles. After striking every military target on the hit list, the U.S. sat down for negotiations with Iran. By Western rules of war, Iran should surrender, since it has nothing left with which to fight.

But Iran sees matters differently. With its illegal blockade of the Persian Gulf, Iran believes it is inflicting economic pain on America that was draining America’s will to fight. In other words, Iran believes that time is on its side.

After this refusal to surrender became apparent, President Trump last week responded to Iran’s blockade with one of its own, a proportional response that forced Iran to feel the same pain as everyone else — and, it was hoped — would turn time against Iran.

Iran is certainly feeling the pain. Shortly after the blockade began, Iran agreed to lift its own illegal blockade on neutral vessels trapped in the Persian Gulf. It wagered the U.S. would respond in kind, once again freeing up Iranian sea traffic, while many ships in the Persian Gulf were still stuck in uncertain waters.

However, President Trump was done playing the Iranian regime’s self-serving game. He has insisted the U.S. blockade will remain in effect until a deal is reached. When the Iranian regime realized this, they quickly reimposed their blockade soon after lifting it, suggesting that it is nothing more than a retaliation for U.S. military actions.

Since the blockade began, U.S. forces have now re-directed 33 Iran-linked ships that tried to leave the Gulf, and it has now seized two that refused to follow orders.

In retaliation for the first ship seizure, Iran fired on and seized two commercial vessels. What did the vessels do to deserve such treatment? They were guilty of being trapped in the Persian Gulf at a time when the Iranian regime wanted to hit back against the untouchable U.S. military.

The obvious conclusion, then, is that Iran views every foreign vessel trapped in the Gulf as a potential hostage, waiting there for the taking, for future negotiations with the United States. Their vassal Hamas would be proud. Unlike a Western government — which, due to the influence of Christianity, has regard for life and justice — the Iranian regime is comprised of so many thugs who will steal, hurt, or kill whatever or whoever they have to, in order to get their way.

Despite their military defeat, the Iranian regime is still holding out hope in one final victory condition: that they can outlast the U.S. assault. That does not mean a military victory but a political one. They hope to hold on to a sliver of power until American public opinion turns so far against the war that America takes its very powerful ball and heads home.

The Iranian regime is counting on its belief that Americans are quitters, eventually. Will America prove them wrong?