Nr. 3 | October 2026 - Reading Tehran After the War: Resistance Doctrine and the Limits of Negotiation
Dr. Sara Bazoobandi
The United States and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2026 that gave them 60 days to negotiate a final agreement. The ceasefire it was meant to deliver did not hold, and the deadline passed on 17 August with no deal. Seen from outside, the process failed. Seen from Tehran, the outcome looks closer to vindication.
In the third and last paper of our series following up on the conference 'Changing Regional Security in the Middle East', Dr. Sara Bazoobandi argues that Iran's post-memorandum conduct is best understood through its doctrine of resistance, which Iran's intellectual and political elite has spent decades building. In this doctrine, enduring a stronger adversary is itself a form of victory, and the ability to absorb punishment while imposing costs is the currency of power. Bazoobandi in the paper draws on Persian-language sources, from the late Supreme Leader's speeches to Iranian economic and security journals, to gain a better understanding how this doctrine shapes Iran’s behavior.
The implications for negotiators are significant. If diplomacy in Tehran's framework serves the battlefield, a signature is not a settlement. Economic pressure can then strengthen the very narrative it is meant to break. Furthermore, Bazoobandi sets out what Iran is unlikely to give up, while also pointing to where a deal might still be possible.
