The New Worst Deal in History

Just a few short months since his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden is barreling toward another foreign policy disaster of his own making: a stunning yet predictable “agreement” to let Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, remain just steps away from the nuclear threshold while lifting U.S. terrorism sanctions without any cessation of the regime’s support for terrorists. 

Calling this an agreement, of course, would be kind. What is likely to emerge from Vienna, where Biden’s special envoy for Iran is making indirect overtures to Tehran through a Russian intermediary, can best be described as a surrender.  

Biden inherited the most economic leverage over another country in the history of financial warfare. He also commands the largest and most powerful military in the world. You’d never know either to be true from the way his administration approached the Islamic Republic during its first year: loosening sanctions, shredding military deterrence, and holding back political accountability for nuclear and regional misconduct. 

 The 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), had fatal flaws, including weak verification measures and a raft of “sunset clauses” that gradually lifted the most important restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program. JCPOA proponents liked to claim the deal put Iran’s nuclear program in a box—though it was more of a jack-in-the-box with Iran capable of shooting out at any time of its choosing. If there’s a box involved in Biden’s deal, it will effectively have no sides or top.