In this post, we put forth our understanding of Iran’s statement, “The US is negotiating with itself.” [1]
A few political analysts are calling this statement something that mocks America [2][3]. That interpretation assumes that the language has an undercurrent of nationalistic sentiment, which may be right, since there’s a war going on, and nationalistic sentiment surges in a war between nations. However, we take a neutral interpretation in this post.
One of the important aspects of Iran’s war strategy has been that of reciprocity: every attack by the US-Israel side is being reciprocated in intention, if not intensity. For example, when Iranian bank employees came under attack, Iran issued a warning that it could target American banks in the Middle East [4]. When Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was attacked, it responded by attacking the area around nuclear sites in Israel [5].
What this strategy does is that it makes the other entity introspect. Because it’s not just the material damage that’s being conveyed, but also a philosophy being argued against: the philosophy here being that of American exceptionalism [6].
Introspection is essentially a way to negotiate with oneself when the entities interacting are human beings. When the other entity is a nation-state, it too starts looking inwards; this is what is meant by “negotiating with itself.” When a nation-state negotiates with itself, it means that its actions and its philosophical outlook do not match. This can be seen in opinion polls: around 37% of people approve of the war, and overall Americans disapprove of it [7]. This is very similar to how an individual negotiates with itself.
Iran’s war strategy is to restore the equilibrium between the actions of the US and its internal philosophical outlook that comes via democracy. And it is actually this balance that Iran is attacking in the abstract, calling it “The US is negotiating with itself.”
[3] https://openthemagazine.com/world/us-negotiating-with-itself-iran-mocks-donald-trumps-peace-claim
[5] https://www.icanw.org/iran_strike_near_israeli_nuclear_site