Iran is a master of deception. Even when it appears talks are moving in the right direction, distractions become commonplace.

As many watch developments from afar, they are being impacted greatly at home. You cannot help but cringe every time you fill up your gas tank even though prices are slowly dropping.

Partisan division over the conflict also clouds the issue. Since Feb. 28 when the United States first began its airstrikes on Iran, there has not been a unified voice that has come out of Washington.

Last week during a virtual news conference, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the average New York family had spent $298 more on fuel since the attacks began. “President Trump’s war with Iran has been a disaster from start to finish,” said the Democrat. “This war has degraded our military readiness, endangered our national security, and driven up costs here at home. … Working Americans are struggling here at home while our president damages our country’s credibility abroad. That is a profound failure and an international embarrassment for our country.”

U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy last week during a stop at the Cassadaga American Legion in a photo from his Facebook page.

On that same day of Gillibrand’s remarks, U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy was in Jamestown touring the UPMC Chautauqua hospital. He also addressed the tensions between the U.S. and Iran during a stop at his Second Street office in the city.

“This should not be a political discussion. …. This is the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism,” he said. “Almost any terrorism that happens around the globe ties back to Iran in some way. We have to take them and their nuclear ambitions very seriously.”

America’s relations were severely strained after the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah and ushered in the Islamic Republic. Later that year — on Nov. 4 — Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from diplomats to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. Held hostage for 444 days, the turmoil was a blow to our nation’s confidence and psyche.

Forty-five years later, the United States has not healed from those wounds. The winter attacks brought back those memories — and fears of prolonged combat.

“I think many of us hoped that when the bombs flew that the (Iranian) people would take their country back,” Langworthy said. “They don’t have the right to bear arms. They didn’t have the means to topple the government. I think many of those protesters in the streets of Tehran were murdered.”

Iran’s military is no slouch and is recognized by some as a top 20 force in the world. It serves to protect those in power while maintaining its Mideast dominance.

“It’s a horrible regime. … But I would rather have a diplomatic fix to this than a forever war. … The taste of Afghanistan and Iraq still are too vivid to me and I don’t believe there’s the appetite in this country for a troop commitment,” Langworthy said.

That sentiment is one of the reasons why the congressman does not believe in putting troops at risk in a ground war. “I don’t think I can comfortably look in the eyes of a parent of a deployed soldier and say, ‘I understand exactly why we’re sending your son or daughter to invade Iran.’ ”

With prices at the pump remaining unpredictable, some are backing a federal holiday on the gas tax. Some Republicans and Conservatives think that would be a “bad policy.” Langworthy is not of that mindset.

“I’d rather us fill a hole in a transportation budget through other means and give some relief at the pump if we have the power to do it and we do,” he said.

As talks drag with Iran, he wants Americans — especially as the nation nears the Fourth of July on its 250th birthday — to pray for those who serve our country. “We have to support the men and women in uniform,” he said.

In the end, no matter what the opinion on the conflict, that is the most important message.

John D’Agostino is editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.