Attack where [the enemy] is unprepared.

- Sun Tzu

 

 

Deception As Diplomacy

In an age of intensifying geopolitical competition, diplomatic engagement is increasingly employed not as a means of resolution, but as a vehicle for calculated misdirection. This article introduces the term ‘Deception as Diplomacy’ to describe a strategic posture in which states participate in ostensibly diplomatic activity with the primary aim not of achieving compromise, but of misleading adversaries, delaying unfavourable developments, or concealing the true nature of their objectives.

 

While deception in diplomacy is by no means a novel phenomenon, having long functioned as a supplementary tactic during war, negotiation, or alliance-building, what distinguishes the emerging pattern is its systematic, deliberate, and centralised application. Here, deception is not merely a by-product of realpolitik, but a core diplomatic method in its own right. Under this model, diplomacy ceases to function as a forum for genuine dialogue and instead becomes an instrument of obfuscation, enabling states to maintain plausible deniability, disorient foreign observers, and create the illusion of engagement where none meaningfully exists.

 

This article examines instances in which dialogue is used by the United States and Israel not to resolve conflict with Iran, but to stall, distract, or strategically manipulate. The term ‘Deception as Diplomacy’ thus captures the uncomfortable reality that, in certain contexts, diplomacy itself becomes a theatre of illusion, serving objectives wholly detached from the language and intent of peace or compromise.

 

 

Don’t Be Fooled, War With Iran Is Imminent

Following Donald Trump’s 60-day ultimatum to Iran to choose a deal or war (Millward, 2025), today on Truth Social he claimed:

“We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran”, (Donald J. Trump, 2025).

 

At the same time, a meeting between the US and the Islamic regime envoys took place in Rome, which both claimed was ‘constructive’ and agreed to meet again on 19 June (Aljazeera, 2025).

 

Perhaps this talk and the agreed new date should appear as Trump’s intention for peace, but there are indications that this is not the case and that a clandestine operation is underway against Iran under diplomatic cover.

 

To support this theory:

First, the IAEA, in a move that confirms its function as a political attack dog for its Western masters, has today played its designated part in escalating tensions with Iran (Suren-Pahlav, 2025). It passed a resolution, drafted by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, manufacturing the very pretext for further action by declaring Iran non-compliant (Reuters, 2025a).

 

Second, over the past two or three months, the backdrop of the West’s relentless military preparation indicates they are arming Israel for full-scale military action against Iran.

 

These include:

• March–May 2025: The US shifted an entire Patriot air-defence battalion from the Pacific to the Middle East, an operation requiring over 70 C-17 Globemaster flights.

• Early June: Further refuelling aircraft and fighter jets deployed to bases in Italy, Spain, Germany, and Greece; the USS Nimitz carrier strike group entered Middle Eastern waters.

• Throughout June: US C-17s conducted at least 14 clandestine cargo flights delivering undisclosed military supplies (munitions, spares) to Israel. The final known flight (10 June) delivered 300 Hellfire missiles.

• 4 June: French dockers in Fos-Marseille refused to load arms for Israel, with parallel protests in Genoa, Salerno, and Syracuse (Sicily), proving active arms shipments were underway despite public denials.

 

Third, yesterday’s (11 June) sudden warnings were issued: first from the US State Department ordering the departure of non-essential personnel and their families from its embassies in Iraq (Baghdad and Erbil) (Politico, 2025); and second from the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warning vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to exercise caution and avoid transiting close to Iranian territorial waters (Reuters, 2025b).

 

These contradictory statements, along with the military build-up and US/UK warnings, point to a diplomatic deception designed to lull Iran into lowering its guard in order to attack imminently, within a day or two.

 

 

Trump’s ‘Deal Breaker’ and ‘Man of Peace’, and Deception as Diplomacy

One of the re-equipments for any politician to possess, even a celebrity-style politician such as Donald Trump, is to lie and deceive.

 

Some politicians are beyond shamelessness and do not care about their image, such as George W. Bush or Tony Blair, whose hands are dipped in the blood of over 1,000,000 Afghans and Iraqis, while holding their heads high and justifying their brutality as spreading freedom and democracy; or the Islamic regime in Iran that commits the most heinous crimes against the Iranian nation in the name of religion and God; and some like Trump, who suffers from an acute form of narcissism, strives not to tarnish the façade he created for his voters.

 

And that explains his Truth Social post, sending an envoy for talks, and claiming not to know what is going on, while Israel, which most definitely has orchestrated this charade, would do the dirty work. After all, Benjamin Netanyahu’s image cannot get worse than accusations of genocidal war crimes, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, deception, theft, bribery and fraud, and he is always ready to plunge himself further into the abyss of evilness, paralleled only by history’s tyrants– of course he does it all to save his skin from justice, facing various corruption charges in Israel. Therefore, the imminent attack on Iran, although it will be portrayed as an Israeli initiative, will most definitely be backed by the US, UK, French and German military machines.

 

Nevertheless, the timing of the attack no one can guess, but it will most definitely happen very soon and before the next round of talks.

 

 

What to Expect?

Attacking Iran is a gambit that neither Israel nor its proxy states should take.

 

First, such an attack is unjustified, and according to international law, is considered illegal, despite the fact that international law is only ever considered applicable when Israeli and Western interests are involved. The very same Western powers that founded the ICC and used it to indict Slobodan Milošević and later Vladimir Putin for war crimes now reject its authority when it targets their ally, Netanyahu, for crimes committed in Gaza. Otherwise, by now Netanyahu would have been arrested and faced charges: an Arrest Warrant has already been issued for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression at the International Criminal Court (International Criminal Court, 2024).

 

However, why is it a gambit that would backfire? It underestimates the brutality of the Islamic Regime, which mirrors Israel’s, and its ballistic missiles that will rain down on Israel.

 

It is no argument that Israel’s firepower dwarfs Iran’s; they are armed to the teeth with the most advanced US armaments: F-35 fighter jets, Western logistics, and satellite intelligence capable of turning the Islamic Regime’s defences, including its ageing air force, to ashes in a single mass aerial assault. Yet this is precisely their fatal miscalculation. Israelis and their Western proxies believe they can shield Israel from the Regime’s missiles.

 

The Islamic Regime is believed to possess 3,000–8,000 ballistic missiles, including hypersonic weapons no Western nation can intercept. For every ageing Iranian ballistic missile launched, at least three interceptors are needed at prohibitive cost. When the coalition’s arsenal depletes, Israel becomes a sitting duck. This isn't speculation; it's the grim arithmetic of modern missile defence, documented by Western think tanks like the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) long before this crisis. The sheer volume and saturation tactics Iran can employ would overwhelm even the most advanced systems like Israel's Arrow or the US THAAD within hours, draining arsenals worth billions in a single engagement. This isn't deterrence; it's national bankruptcy by interception. Worse, the Islamic Regime in Iran, need only destroy Israel’s ports, refineries, nuclear facilities, and, crucially, its desalination plants to cripple the nation. Survival hinges on these; their loss would bring Israel to its knees.

 

Nevertheless,  in this stage, most definitely Israel would order Trump to take action and send US forces to get involved directly. At that point, Trump’s image is the least of his master’s issues in Tel Aviv and AIPAC. Worth mentioning, it is plausible that the Israelis hold Trump on a short leash as they possess Jeffrey Epstein sex ring scandal files, which Trump not only was a close friend of Epstein but allegedly one of the participants. It has been claimed that Epstein was a Mossad agent gathering damning information about US and European politicians and royalty (TRT, 2025).

 

However, the only outcome would not only be exposing Israel’s vulnerability and diminishing Israel’s myth of invincibility, which convinced Israel's Arab neighbours to fear it, but would simultaneously see the 'threshold state' status they've carefully nurtured vanish overnight, replaced by the undeniable reality of a nuclear-armed theocracy, transforming the Islamic regime into the monster everyone fears: a nuclear Mullah; a Middle-Eastern version of North Korea.

 

Such an attack would provide the regime with the ultimate justification of victimhood to sprint for the bomb, motivated not by ideology but by a naked survival instinct forged in the fire of Western-Israeli aggression. Doing so would ultimately pave the way for it to wipe Israel off the map.

 

 

Conclusion

It is a profound indictment of our age that we have exchanged the flawed but sober practitioners of statecraft, individuals possessing the acumen to navigate complexity, the intelligence to foresee consequences, and the wisdom to recognise Armageddon as failure, not policy, for a generation of preening narcissists clad in suits. These are not leaders; they are reactionaries. Their foreign policy is forged in the ephemeral echo chambers of social media, announced with the gravitas of a viral meme. Diplomacy has withered into the petulant threat-making of children who have stumbled upon a live grenade. Their sole lexicon? The adolescent boast, amplified to apocalyptic scale: ‘Comply, or I shall destroy us all’. They posture and preen, fingers hovering over the nuclear trigger as if it were a toy, wilfully blind to the irrevocable finality it represents. This is not governance; it is a global suicide pact orchestrated by the emotionally stunted. The sheer, staggering folly of entrusting civilisation’s survival to these vainglorious, unqualified poseurs stands as Cromwell’s curse upon our hollowed-out politics: ‘Barely a generation of virtue between us and utter ruin.’

 

And finally, to HIH the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi: Heed this warning from the heart of the Iranian resistance. While some in the diaspora shortsightedly cheer bombs falling on our homeland, know this: the compatriots you seek to lead will never forgive collaboration with foreign aggression. Your friendship with Israel is your affair; your complicity in the bombing of Iranian soil would be an unforgivable betrayal of the very nation whose throne you claim. Distance yourself unequivocally from any attack, condemn it as an assault on Iranian sovereignty. To stand silent while Netanyahu and Trump rain fire upon our people is not statesmanship; it is political suicide. The blood of Iranians killed by foreign missiles will stain your legacy for generations. Choose wisely: stand with Iran, or be remembered as the prince who enabled her crucifixion.

 

Yet we Iranians, who oppose the Islamic Regime and fight to topple it, replacing tyranny with a national government rooted in true democracy, justice, truth, and Iranian values, must now navigate with absolute wisdom. We cannot fall prey to the chaos these warmongers will unleash upon our ancient land. Let us unanimously condemn any attack on Iranian soil and the murder of our innocent compatriots. Remember: though we despise the Islamic Regime as fiercely as Israel and the West do, our visions diverge utterly. Their objective is Iran’s destruction; ours is salvation, a bright future for generations to come, ensuring our survival as one of Earth’s oldest nations for another 7,000 years.

 

 

References

• Aljazeera (2025) ‘Iran, US conclude ‘constructive’ nuclear talks in Oman, agree to meet again’, Al Jazeera, 12 April. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/12/iranian-us-delegations-set-to-begin-high-stakes-nuclear-talks-in-oman [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Donald J. Trump (2025) Truth Social post, 12 June. Available at: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114672438335170335 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• International Criminal Court (2024) ‘Arrest warrant for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression’. Available at: https://www.icc-cpi.int/taxonomy/term/672 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Millward, D. (2025) 'Trump tells Iran "make a deal or it’s war"', The Telegraph, 11 April. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/04/11/trump-tells-iran-make-deal-or-war/ [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Politico (2025) ‘US diplomats ordered to leave Iraq embassy over unspecified security threats’, Politico, 11 June. Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/11/us-diplomats-ordered-to-leave-iraq-embassy-over-unspecified-security-threats-00400613 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Reuters (2025a) ‘IAEA board declares Iran in breach of non-proliferation obligations’, Reuters, 12 June. Available at:  https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iaea-board-declares-iran-breach-non-proliferation-duties-diplomats-say-2025-06-12 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Reuters (2025b) ‘Maritime agency warns shipping industry over rising Middle East tensions’, Reuters, 11 June. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ukmto-warns-possible-impact-mariners-increase-middle-east-tension-2025-06-11 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• Suren-Pahlav. S., (2025) ‘Enforcing Atomic Apartheid: How the West Weaponised the NPT and Unleashed its IAEA Attack Dog’, suren-pahlav.com (23 May). Available at: https://www.suren-pahlav.com/en/enforcing-atomic-apartheid-how-the-west-weaponised-the-npt-and-unleashed-its-iaea-attack-dog.html [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

• TRT (2025) ‘Disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the spy theory and Israel angle’. Available at: https://trt.global/world/article/16616743 [Accessed: 12 July 2025].

 

Shortened link to this article: https://bit.ly/44BSmCb