President Trump’s Middle East blind spot presents a fundamental problem when dealing with the broader Islamic world.

Trump approaches foreign policy as a deal-maker. His instinct is to identify the other side’s interests, put a price on the table, and negotiate a deal. That approach can work when dealing with rational actors whose primary objective is political or economic advantage. But it becomes dangerously inadequate when dealing with regimes and movements driven by religious ideology, historical grievance, and the belief that they are conducting the will of Allah.

Deal-making assumes that self-interest imposes limits on political behavior. But what happens when an adversary believes martyrdom is preferable to compromise—and that destroying its enemies is not merely a political objective but a religious obligation?

The Islamic Republic is not simply another government looking for a better economic deal. Its leaders have repeatedly demonstrated that negotiations can be used to advance the regime’s strategic objectives. An agreement can provide sanctions relief, stall, divide the opposition, allow military capabilities to be rebuilt, and leave Iran stronger than it was before. To assume that an agreement changes the regime’s underlying ambitions is to confuse a tactical pause with a strategic surrender.

Iran thinks in decades and centuries. It is willing to play the long game because its........

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