President Joe Biden’s insistence on resuming Team Obama’s disastrous 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran has truly entered the world of the absurd: Even as Biden officials entertain talks with Tehran, they’ve also been coordinating with the United Kingdom, Romania and Israel to launch a retaliatory response following what is believed to be an Iranian-backed strike on a ship last week that left two dead.
Iran and its proxies have attacked ships and other targets for years, yet the hit on the Israel-managed petroleum tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman July 30 was the first recent maritime attack to entail fatalities, that of a Brit and a Romanian.
“Upon review of the available information, we are confident that Iran conducted this attack, which killed two innocent people,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We are working with our partners to consider our next steps and consulting with governments inside the region and beyond on an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming.”
And if you think Iran might suddenly become a reasonable, good-faith negotiating partner now that a new president took office Thursday, recall that its new leader, Ebrahim Raisi, is a hardline devotee to the Islamic Revolution — with oceans of blood on his hands.
Good luck trying to make a meaningful deal with a regime like this. Indeed, Iran has reportedly made a new demand: that the United States guarantee it’ll never walk away from the pact, as President Donald Trump wisely did with the last one.
“They once violated the nuclear deal at no cost by exiting it,” warned Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who actually holds all the power. “Now they explicitly say that they cannot give guarantees that it would not happen again.”
Never mind that the old deal paved the way for Iran to get nukes in a matter of years. And did nothing about its terrorism or belligerence throughout the region. Never mind Iran’s breaches of the deal, such as stockpiling enriched uranium at its underground plant at Natanz.
Here’s a better idea than for Team Biden to continue to deal with terrorist thugs who can’t be trusted: Don’t negotiate at all, but simply dictate the terms for the removal of sanctions and leave it to Iran to comply.
If Iran can’t first prove that it will forswear nuclear weapons for good, it doesn’t deserve any of the benefits a Biden deal will bestow.