The American president, who is so concerned about his personal image and prestige, has experienced a humiliating occurrence which no other American has ever before undergone. The Iranians are attacking him with no holds barred, smearing him with every known infamy, calling him a 'loser' and mocking him with snide caricatures and subtitles.
When an Israeli newsman or politician looses as much as a word of criticism against the president or the vice president, the American reaction is swift in coming with sharp censure against said commentator or politician. But when the entire Iranian media mocks the president or his second-in-command, not a peep is heard.
The Iranians well-understood the message emerging from Washington, according to which Trump decided to close a deal at all costs, literally, "all cost," be it the most humiliating one, since they are not concerned about any American reaction. They are holding the winning card in the future of the Hormuz Strait, and are using it in the most advantageously possible way.
After the American president demanded that Iran immediately restrain its proxy in Lebanon, Muhamad Maardani, the Iranian advisor of the delegation, reacted with open disdain, publicizing Trump's demand, with the following epithet: 'a sore loser,' caricatured with full mockery and ridicule.
Similarly, Ibrahim Ro'i, Iranian spokesman for national security, joined the fray. According to the translation adjoining his words, Ro'i maintains that Trump "is angry at the blockade of the Hormuz Strait" and is threatening to seize power on the passageway and become its guardian angel. Ro'i added that "only a fool could express such totally meaningless claims" and determined that "the term of such bluffs has expired."
Trump has become the fool and disgrace of the entire world, and the Iranians consider themselves the victors and are elating over the defamation.
Even Worse
U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, lashed out in a direct attack against the critics of the agreement he negotiated. He defined the Israeli reactions as "a strange hysteria" stemming from a lack of faith, arguing that the Israeli politicians are being fed false information. He sarcastically dealt with the critics, demanding that they present a better version of the agreement.
So here, when Vance arrived at the negotiations in Switzerland, he experienced humiliating treatment by all of the participants. First, as opposed to the normal protocol, the strong and central side is meant to arrive after all those representing the other sides are already present. Vance was first to come and had to wait until all of the other delegations had arrived.
It had been agreed that all of the participants would be photographed together and perhaps even shaking hands with one another. The photographers were already there. But when the Iranians finally came, after a considerable delay, to the great discomfort of the Vice President of the supreme world power, a strange drama took place in the hall, when the Iranian Foreign Minister stated to the Pakistan Prime Minister that he cannot remain there so long as the American representative is present.
In a publicized film clip, one can visibly see the shock upon the face of the U.S. Vice President, fully apparent before the cameras.
But this was not the limit of the humiliation of America and its vice president. While Vance was attempting to recover from the last blow, the Qatari Prime Minister, Muhamad Itaani, entered the hall. Vance was happy and relieved at the sight of the representative of the country which had donated a 'pampering' gift of a plane worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the American president. Except that this figure skipped over JD Vance, totally ignoring him as if he didn't even exist. Vance kept trying to gain his attention in order to exchange several words with him, but was treated with a very cold shoulder.
That is how a loser is treated. Clout and muscle are the key words in the Middle East, and when the president of the largest world power shows weakness and obsequiousness, such is the expected response.
In Iran, perhaps they feel they lost the battle but they won the war. America is about to yield to all of its demands and enable Iran to resume to rearm itself to a greater degree than before the war. The Iranian representative can publicly declare that its desire to destroy the State of Israel is still intact without a word from the Americans.
And even Qatar, which was attacked by the Iranians in the course of the war, understands on which side the power stands, which is why its representative publicly shames Mr. Number Two of the American hierarchy without fearing any censure. Vance is strong vis-a-vis the Israelis but weak in face of Iran and Qatar.
This is the face of an embarrassing defeat and debasing knuckling under of the president of the world power who once believed that he was running the world, when today he discovers that the world is 'running' him.
