OPINION:
Common sense yet survives. Despite President Biden’s unwise push to resurrect the moribund Iran nuclear deal, there is a red line that he has refused to cross, at least thus far. While obstinance at the negotiation table is the enemy of peace, so is submission before an implacable adversary. Score a rare point for the president.
A yearlong process of negotiation in Vienna with hard-bargaining representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran now stands at an impasse. A downcast Robert Malley, the top U.S. negotiator, described the standoff last week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “We do not have a deal with Iran, and prospects for reaching one are, at best, tenuous.”
Actually, that’s good news. Why? Since taking office, Mr. Biden has pined for a revival of the Iran nuclear pact that former President Barack Obama signed in 2015 and former President Donald Trump revoked in 2018 on account of its glaring flaws. That the current commander in chief has rejected a key Iranian bargaining position attests to an unforeseen measure of grit.
The current obstacle: Iran has demanded that its Revolutionary Guard Corps be removed from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, where it was consigned in 2019. Assembled to protect the nation’s Islam-based political system, the corps has become the prime vehicle for Iran’s efforts to export destabilizing turmoil throughout the Middle East. The organization has been saddled with punitive measures for smuggling Iranian oil in contravention of economic sanctions, and Tehran refuses to continue the nuke talks until its most powerful branch is rehabilitated.
On Friday, the corps captured two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for Athens’ help in the U.S. seizure of an Iranian tanker attempting to dodge oil sanctions. The military operation stands as a pointed demonstration of Iran’s relentless defiance, which realistically renders the nuclear pact an exercise in futility.
Since the 1979 revolution that brought them to power, Iran’s mullahs have shown unyielding determination to safeguard their political franchise, and nothing keeps enemies at bay like “the bomb.” The Obama-era nuclear deal only served to reward Iran for slowing its weapons program, and there has been little indication that a Biden-branded version would accomplish more.
For the “mullahcracy,” more fearsome than America’s button-down diplomats is Iran’s own populace, which has been forced to endure an incessant series of hardships from economic sanctions. When a 10-story building collapsed and killed dozens in the southwestern city of Abadan last week, crowds of angry protesters converged, according to The Associated Press. Chants included, “Our enemy is here; they lie that it is America!” Authorities used tear gas and gunfire to break up the mob.
Everyday Iranians are weary of their leaders’ proclivity for shaking their fists at every perceived enemy. By drawing a line at rehabilitating the terroristic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a similarly vexed Mr. Biden is recalculating his approach to his clamorous antagonists. Indeed, there are times when confrontation trumps accommodation.
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