Iran’s diplomacy strategy: negotiation as leverage, not concession
By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis Tehran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz raise a larger question: when Iran enters negotiations, is it seeking a settlement—or buying time to reshape the battlefield? Iran’s advocates of diplomacy often present negotiations with Tehran as the obvious alternative to escalation. Their argument is straightforward: pressure creates instability, while dialogue can produce compromise. Yet that argument becomes considerably more complicated when examined against the historical behavior of the Islamic Republic. Iran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz reveal how Tehran may use diplomacy, coercive leverage and negotiations to divide opponents, extract concessions and buy time. The central question is not whether Iran is willing to talk. It clearly is. The more consequential question is what Tehran seeks to achieve by talking . A long record of Iranian engagement with the United States and regional powers suggests ...