In December, a Lebanese journalist was able to interview two Hizballah fighters held captive by Nusra Front, a Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda. David Daoud explains what this interview reveals about Hizballah’s influence in Lebanon and its current war in Syria:

Hizballah . . . runs its own private educational system [in Lebanon], which graduates some 2,000 competitive and well-trained university students a year. Though mixed with the party’s ideology, the education these schools provide far exceeds anything offered by the state and even rivals the country’s prestigious Christian missionary schools. . . . [Furthermore, Hizballah] helps needy families with tuition—a luxury not available to them in other Lebanese school systems.

The indoctrination [found in these schools and other] institutions constructs children’s identity so that their moral compass is based on the ideology of . . . “guardianship of the jurist” [i.e., a belief in the absolute religious and political authority of Iran’s supreme leader] that governs political life in Iran, Hizballah’s main backer. And even if these institutions do not transform young Shiites into adult party ideologues, they make them more amenable to Hizballah’s pressures by force-feeding them the notion that they have no alternative to the party. . . .

Once . . . inexperienced fighters [like the two captives] are in Syria, . . . they are often handed to the Iranians. In Syria . . . the Iranians “are running the show,” giving deployment and battle orders to Hizballah fighters, who are thrown together with other Shiite foreign fighters including Iraqis and Afghans.

In 2003, the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, spooked by the American display of might in Iraq, decided to destroy or surrender his entire nuclear program. Informed observers have suggested that the deal he made with the U.S. should serve as a model for any agreement with Iran. Robert Joseph provides some useful background:

Gaddafi had convinced himself that Libya would be next on the U.S. target list after Iraq. There was no reason or need to threaten Libya with bombing as Gaddafi was quick to tell almost every visitor that he did not want to be Saddam Hussein. The images of Saddam being pulled from his spider hole . . . played on his mind.

President Bush’s goal was to have Libya serve as an alternative model to Iraq. Instead of war, proliferators would give up their nuclear programs in exchange for relief from economic and political sanctions.

Any outcome that permits Iran to enrich uranium at any level will fail the one standard that President Trump has established: Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Limiting enrichment even to low levels will allow Iran to break out of the agreement at any time, no matter what the agreement says.

Iran is not a normal government that observes the rules of international behavior or fair “dealmaking.” This is a regime that relies on regional terror and brutal repression of its citizens to stay in power. It has a long history of using negotiations to expand its nuclear program. Its negotiating tactics are clear: extend the negotiations as long as possible and meet any concession with more demands.