U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s negotiations and ceasefire deals with Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah are not seen by these actors as steps toward peace.

Rather, they are viewed by Tehran, Gaza, and Beirut as infidels trying to tell Muslims what to do. For them, such a situation is unimaginable, unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to stand.

To Iran’s current leaders, whoever they are, if Trump carries out his threat to bomb the country’s bridges and power plants on Wednesday, so be it. In the view of Iran’s theocratic regime, none of that is of any importance so long as it survives, in any form, to be able to continue waging jihad (holy war) against its people, its neighbors, and the West.

For the rulers of Iran — and the same is true for Gaza and Beirut — if the regime’s power structure survives the military strikes Trump is warning of, nothing else really matters, so long as they are able to resume their jihad for the eventual displacement of the West by Islam.

A piece of paper signed with infidels at the point of a gun is, in their eyes, nothing more than a Western fantasy. At least the Iranian regime is being honest. Giving up the prospect of making military headway, or controlling the Strait of Hormuz, or retaining enriched uranium and indefinitely enriching more, is simply intolerable.

They see anything short of the total destruction of their entire power base as a total victory.

That is why all three regimes – the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon – need to be totally dismantled if there is to be any real, permanent change of conduct in the Middle East.

After Trump announced his two-week ceasefire deal with Iran earlier this month, many Iranians took to the streets of Tehran, where they celebrated “victory,” burned U.S. and Israeli flags, and chanted anti-American slogans. The Iranian media portrayed that ceasefire agreement as a “victory” against the U.S. and Israel.

“The Islamic Republic is still standing,” reported France 24’s Reza Sayah from Tehran. “For Iran, survival was always a victory.”

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement: “During this period, it is essential to maintain national unity and to continue victory celebrations with strength.”

The latest ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, announced by Trump on April 16, was also seen by Hezbollah and its supporters as a “victory.” The Iranian regime took credit for the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baqaei, described the truce as a victory for the Iran-led “axis of resistance.” Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen also described the ceasefire deal as a “victory” for Hezbollah.

For the Iranian regime and its proxies, survival equals victory. If they are not destroyed, if they retain their weapons, if they remain in power, they can claim success.

So far as they are concerned, there are no compromises. In any conflict, no matter how severe, if any of their leaders — no matter how freshly branded — are still standing, that is proof that their strategy of armed confrontation, refusing to back down, and jihad works.

This outlook is precisely why all ceasefires will be repeatedly exploited by Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. The ceasefires are regarded simply as opportunities that provide time to rearm, regroup, and prepare for the next round of fighting. They reinforce the belief that jihad and “resistance” deliver results.

For the US, this should be the clearest warning sign: negotiations, promises, ceasefire agreements — all intended by the West to reduce violence — are instead interpreted as validation of the jihadists’ approach.

The Western belief that negotiations and ceasefires can evolve into peace agreements with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime is – as has been proven – unfortunately false.

In these cultures, agreements do not have a moderating effect on the power structures. Negotiations, threats, and even bombings do not deter anyone or lead to disarmament. On the contrary, they reinforce defiance.

Just last week, Hamas again rejected Trump’s call to lay down its weapons. According to the Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper:

“Hamas rejected the demand to disarm just two days after the deadline for responding to the plan proposed by [director-general of Trump’s “Board of Peace”] Nikolai Mladenov. With this rejection, the plan, which links the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to the disarmament of the Palestinian resistance groups, has collapsed.”

Hezbollah has also repeatedly rejected calls by the Trump administration and the Lebanese government for relinquishing its weapons.

The message should by now be clear: Iran’s regime, Hamas and Hezbollah have no intention of laying down their arms, no interest in compromise, and no respect for Trump and his policies. In fact, they are telling Trump: Your initiatives and efforts are irrelevant.

The refusal of Hamas and Hezbollah to disarm reflects not only their ideological commitment to jihad. The intractability of their leaders also aligns with their long-term ideological objective of sustaining a permanent conflict with Israel and the West.

Even if the Iranian regime is no longer able to continue funding, arming, and guiding its proxies, all will remain committed to armed struggle until “victory.”

“Victory,” in their terms, means first the destruction of Israel (“the Little Satan”), then taking over their oil-rich neighbors, and eventually the destruction of Europe and the United States (“the Great Satan”).

So long as the Iranian regime – or Hamas or Hezbollah — is able to survive, there will be no disarmament, no moderation, and no peace.

The repeated refusals by Iran’s regime, Hamas, and Hezbollah expose the failure of any policy built on engagement, incentives, or accommodation.

These terror entities do not interpret diplomatic overtures, off-ramps and ceasefires as goodwill. They view them instead as weakness.

They are right. It is, indeed, the West’s fault that it allows itself to be exploited. The West not only gives these leaders time to rearm and rebuild, but worse, it grants them legitimacy and power bases throughout Europe and the United States. No one in the West even asks them to concede anything of substance.

The respected Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib warned last week:

“A ceasefire that freezes the conflicts in Lebanon and Iran, just as it did in the Gaza Strip, without addressing the perpetual and catastrophic risk that Hezbollah, the Iranian regime, and Hamas pose to their people, neighbors, and the entire world, is a tried-and-tested formula for more war, future destruction, and stagnation in the Middle East. Kicking the can down the road and failing to turn ceasefires into new and transformative beginnings cast serious doubt on claims of total victory or grand proclamations of success and achievement.”

If the Trump administration is serious about achieving stability and peace in the Middle East, it must begin by understanding that, as far as jihadist organizations are concerned, negotiations, threats, and ceasefires are not confidence-building measures, but openings to be exploited. Hamas, Hezbollah, and their Iranian patron are not moving toward peace. They are preparing for the next confrontation.

Every pause that leaves them intact only strengthens their belief that they are winning.

Until there is a better understanding by the West of what jihad actually is — and the uncompromising determination behind it — every negotiation, threat, and ceasefire will only lead to more terrorism and the next war.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.