🚨 The Islamic Republic tried to stop Trump from attacking it by offering $500 billion in potential business for American companies. Hassan Qashqavi, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, says the Islamic Republic sent its economic diplomacy team into pre-war negotiations with a massive proposal covering oil and gas, mining, aviation, transportation and infrastructure. The calculation was simple: Trump is a businessman, so give American companies enough economic interest in Iran that confrontation becomes more costly for the United States. That exposes an extraordinary hypocrisy. For decades, Iranians were told that confronting the United States justified sanctions, isolation and economic sacrifice. Yet when the Islamic Republic itself faced attack, it was prepared to entice American corporations with hundreds of billions of dollars in opportunities across Iran. The $500 billion was not cash. It represented proposed projects and potential investment, but the strategy behind it is what matters. Islamic Republic officials believed American commercial interests might protect them where missiles, proxies and military deterrence could not. “Death to America” was imposed on Iranians for decades. When the Islamic Republic itself was in danger, it went looking for a $500 billion deal with Trump.