Ben Shapiro argues Iran MOU failed because cultural misunderstanding doomed negotiations

What was said

"We in the West keep making a pretty large-scale mistake. We assume that Islamic actors in the Middle East are just like us. They want the same things for their kids. They want the same ends— human flourishing, right? That's what we want. That's what they want. We all just have different roads to get there. Wrong."

Shapiro argues that the Iran-US Memorandum of Understanding was destined to fail because Western negotiators fundamentally misunderstood Iranian motivations and worldview. He contends that Iran operates under Islamic theocratic principles that prioritize religious conquest over economic prosperity, making Western-style incentive-based diplomacy ineffective. Shapiro claims the only successful agreements with Islamic regimes come after total military defeat that crushes hope for victory.