President Donald Trump has always insisted that he wants to make a deal with the Iranian regime. If the back-and-forth negotiations since the spring prove anything, though, it is that Tehran is unwilling to settle this conflict diplomatically. As the president himself said last week, the remaining leaders of the Islamic Republic are “stone-cold crazy.” They would rather condemn their country to destruction than relinquish their nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s intractability can be traced, no doubt, to the suicidal ideology of the Islamic Revolution. But the regime props itself up with other centers of gravity, too — namely its network of terrorist groups across the Middle East, the so-called “Axis of Resistance.” Since Hamas’s 2023 Iran-backed attacks on Israel, many of these groups have been decapitated or defanged by Israel, the United States, and other regional allies. Those that still exist, however, continue providing the Iranian regime with vital support. Any strategy to bring the ayatollahs to their knees, therefore, must prioritize finishing the job and dismantling this proxy network once and for all.