And God Hardened Khamenei’s Heart…

One of the most remarkable features of the current war with Iran, perhaps even the greatest miracle of all, is that Khamenei refused to negotiate in any meaningful way. He would not fully abandon his nuclear ambitions, and he would not seriously discuss dismantling the ballistic missile program. 

This is difficult to understand on purely strategic grounds. Iran was facing a far superior military force. Even Israel’s military exposed just how vulnerable Iran was in a short confrontation. How much greater and clearer was the threat posed by the United States?

It simply does not make sense that he would prefer the risk of devastating destruction over some form of capitulation. A partial concession on the nuclear program, or even a temporary compromise on missiles, could have bought precious time. Time was everything. President Trump made clear that he preferred a deal to a war. 

Iran’s enemies feared not open confrontation, but stalling tactics. An agreement that would relieve pressure, allow Iran to regroup, and perhaps wait for a weaker American administration in a few years. From a cold political perspective, buying time was the obvious move.

So what was Khamenei thinking? How could he have been so confident, or so blind, as to choose this path?

One explanation is ideological corruption. A revolutionary regime, sustained for decades on religious absolutism and hostility toward the West and Israel, can lose its grip on reality. Pride, corrupt theology, and self-image can distort judgment until compromise feels impossible. The ways of the wicked lead to destruction.

But the Torah suggests another possibility. Regarding Pharaoh, the Torah says that God hardened his heart. Pharaoh witnessed plague after plague, devastation that should have forced any rational leader to relent, yet he persisted in self-destructive defiance. 

The Rambam, in Hilchot Teshuva (chapter 6), explains that when a person sins repeatedly and willfully, he can lose the merit of free choice in that area. As punishment, Heaven may remove his ability to choose freely, even when his own survival depends on it.

There are moments in history when evil becomes so entrenched that its leaders lose the capacity to retreat. Not because they lack intelligence, but because they have forfeited the most important freedom of all. The freedom to choose good.

May God always give us the ability to freely choose the good for ourselves. And may He erase the evil regime from under the heavens.