I tend to give President Trump a lot more grace than his critics when he lavishes praise on dictators.
There’s a reason for that: if you notice the pattern Trump uses to nudge our allies and seduce our adversaries, he is often far harsher on our putative friends than on our avowed adversaries as a strategy to get each of them to act more in line with his wishes. He believes that praising friends has led them to take advantage of us, while harshly attacking adversaries in the midst of negotiations only makes them more recalcitrant.
We can argue about whether that strategy works as well as he thinks it does, and a case can be made on either side. It’s clear that European countries are in a state of constant anger at Trump, but also true that their behavior is actually much more in line with our demands, such as increasing defense spending. Presidents since Clinton have urged more defense spending while Europe let its militaries rot; Trump’s constant insults and threats, which inspire white-hot rage across the pond, have also finally gotten them to pony up.
It’s much less clear that Trump’s praise of dictators is having the impact he hopes for. He believed a lighter touch with Putin would help him negotiate a quick end to the war in Ukraine, and that hasn’t panned out. And his sudden shift from calling Iran’s leadership nutcases to characterizing them as smart and rational has yet to yield the desired results.
Trump: “The current Iranian leadership are very rational people. They are nice to deal with, they are strong and smart people. They are not radicalized, and they are looking to help their country.” pic.twitter.com/5QRUNGtg2i
— נועה מגיד | Noa magid (@NoaMagid) June 16, 2026
I doubt that Trump actually believes that Iranian leaders are “nice to deal with,” but Trump calculated that saying such a thing would be more useful to getting success at the negotiating table than calling them barbarians and religious zealots. As grating on the ears as Trump’s fluffing of evil people is at times, I understand the purpose.
There are a few problems, though, that are hard to overcome, not the least of which is that evil people are evil, and their version of rationality is driven by fundamentally different concerns than we expect. Iran, for instance, has based its entire national identity on opposing the United States and Israel, and religious zealotry and cruelty are baked into the regime, not merely tools they use to stay in power. They won’t change behavior if we give them enough carrots.
That’s pretty obvious, as Iran continues executing people who protested. And even more obvious when it sentences singers with fans worldwide to floggings. 74 lashes.
The sentencing of singer Parastoo Ahmadi to flogging for the simple act of singing publicly without a hijab and continued execution of protesters is a stark reminder that, despite talk in Washington of a “new regime” in Iran, the Islamic Republic’s machinery of repression remains…
— Nazanin Boniadi (@NazaninBoniadi) June 18, 2026
The sentencing of singer Parastoo Ahmadi to flogging for the simple act of singing publicly without a hijab and continued execution of protesters is a stark reminder that, despite talk in Washington of a “new regime” in Iran, the Islamic Republic’s machinery of repression remains unchanged.
It can’t be a coincidence that this particular sentence is being handed down now. A singer gets famous in 2024. Sentenced to lashes as the negotiations are about to begin.
The sentence stems from a live-streamed concert performance on YouTube, in which she did not wear a hijab. That’s it.
The Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of a production team, including musicians, have been reportedly sentenced to 74 lashes for performing in a concert livestreamed on Ahmadi’s YouTube channel in 2024.
According to court documents, the criminal court of Qom province sentenced the artists to flogging, a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year ban on engaging in artistic activities on charges that include offending public decency through the production and publication of “vulgar and immoral content” online.
Although the official judiciary news agency has yet to publish the ruling, rights groups and lawyers who reviewed the documents said the pattern of arrests and legal cases against artists publicly defying the regime reflects a broader effort to deter cultural dissent.
In December 2024, the 29-year-old singer performed the patriotic song Az Khoone Javanane Vatan (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland) without a hijab in a livestreamed performance that went viral.
She was briefly detained along with several musicians shortly after its release before being freed. Authorities later filed a formal case over the publication of the video, which has since accumulated millions of views on YouTube.
Bahar Ghandehari, the director of advocacy at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said “Ahmadi’s punishment of 74 lashes for merely singing and appearing without a hijab is yet another reminder that human rights conditions in Iran have not changed, despite the Iranian authorities’ wartime propaganda campaign aimed at improving their image.”
She added that the contrast between official imagery and the prosecution of artists exposed “the gap between the regime’s propaganda and reality”.
How indecent was her performance? You be the judge:
Stories like Parastoo Ahmadi’s are hardly unique in Iran, but when you see the faces and the supposed “crimes” instead of just reading statistics that can be mind-numbing, it brings home how radically different the world is from the perspective of the Iranian tyrants.
Looked at from a purely strategic perspective—should the United States government expend massive blood and treasure to prevent atrocities in random countries—you could argue that this is a sad, unfortunate story that should personally outrage us but not force a change in US policy.
I reluctantly agree with that. Horrors take place all over the world, and we cannot stop every one.
But, when we are actively involved in negotiations with a regime whose policies are driven by a world view that embraces lashing young women 74 times for singing without a hijab, you can’t pretend that you are dealing with rational people, because the Western mind literally cannot comprehend this kind of thinking.
This is the Islamic Regime.
They are anti-humanity.
They will never change. The only solution is to eradicate them off the face of the earth. https://t.co/n0R6Oko41k
— Goldie Ghamari | گلسا قمری 🇮🇷 (@gghamari) June 19, 2026
It is tempting, to some, to view a person like Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as a politician and cardiologist—”he’s a rational scientist!”—but he’s also the leader of a regime that throws acid in the face of girls on the streets and sentences others to lashes for singing to the world without a hijab.
We are dealing with people whose minds are twisted beyond recognition.
You cannot flatter or bribe them into seeing the world as we do. Many of the world’s worst terrorists are Western-trained doctors and engineers who also happen to be evil zealots with cruel streaks we cannot imagine. They are modern-day Mengeles.
Vice President Vance seems to think that Iran has turned over another leaf, so why not extend an olive branch? Trump may be buttering Iranian leaders up, but I doubt Vance is as cynical. He seems to believe it is possible.
This terrorist regime has spent the last 47 years murdering people inside and outside Iran while funding, arming, training, and directing its terrorist proxies worldwide. Yet Vance still believes it will suddenly start behaving after all this time? pic.twitter.com/6dqLl0b0ol
— Neo (@Realneo101) June 19, 2026
I don’t see it. These are people who sentence young women to be lashed 74 times. They execute protesters by the thousand.
They are not like us.
Perhaps we have to negotiate with them. If so, you must do it with your eyes wide open. You are sitting down with demons.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy HotAir’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
