Iran Isn’t Negotiating a Ceasefire — It’s Running Out the Clock to Impose Maximum Cost

Iran’s security interlocutors publicly frame a strategy of refusing ceasefire until they have 'imposed costs' high enough to deter future U.S. interventions. That timeline — not immediate bargaining — shapes Iranian military and diplomatic moves and sets conditions for escalation or de‑escalation. — If Tehran formally links ceasefire to having imposed deterrent costs, Western policymakers and regional states face a longer, more volatile conflict and different bargaining posture than if Iran sought an early truce.