A disturbing number of Britons, it seems, would gladly see the survival of the world’s worst regime. So wrote Jake Wallis Simons a couple of weeks ago in the very pro-Israel Daily Telegraph. I am one of them because he was talking about Iran (why is it Iran has a regime and Egypt a government?) although I by no means think that it has the world's worst regime, not by a country mile.
I can think of others worse.
I am not sure America isn't one of them.
I said yesterday that peace was impossible. I saw no reason why Iran would ever accept a ceasefire because it would only allow her enemies to rearm and prepare for a fresh assault.
That is still my position but we were all wrong when we accused Trump of lying about negotiating with Iran. In some way he was talking to Tehran.
Now genuine negotiations based on the maximalist demands of Iran, which by the way seem to be very reasonable, are going to start and meanwhile the Strait of Hormuz is going to be reopened with certain conditions and under the control of Iran (as it was until the British wrested control from the Shah of Persia in the 18th century).
I wrote yesterday that Trump and Netanyahu should just give up but they won't but it looks like I was wrong. It looks like this might be exactly what they're going to do, which would of course bring peace.
Netanyahu desperately wants peace not to break out and he may be cunning enough to prevent it, but I doubt it.
Trump was in a locked room and now he has found a key.
Let none of us forgive him or forget that this terrible war is certainly the fault of of Donald Trump and has enormously damaged American interests and standing in the world.
But let us remember that it is much more the fault of Benjamin Netanyahu.
He is not America's friend. He is not the friend of anybody apart from Israel and what he calls the diaspora Jews.
Why should he be? Countries do not have friends.
The two countries which seemed to me to have behaved in a very civilised and moral way throughout the last few years when it comes to diplomacy, though certainly not in their domestic policy, are China and Iran.
I note that China is said to have persuaded Iran to talk to the American aggressor.
An (anti-Zionist, of course) synagogue in Tehran was completely destroyed by the Israelis, who remarkably then issued their first apology since they started the war