(National Interest) Ariel E. Levite - The Biden administration has opted for a conciliatory approach to lure Iran back into the nuclear deal. It has endlessly reiterated its eagerness to go back into the deal and demonstrated a remarkable capacity to look the other way on Iran's gross sanctions evasion and regional mischief. The Biden team went along with Iran's consistent refusal to talk directly to U.S. officials, procrastination in the negotiations, and additional nuclear transgressions, and failed to insist that Iran should cap its nuclear progress during the negotiations. Unsurprisingly for anyone familiar with "bazaar-style" negotiations with seasoned Iranian diplomats, 18 months of fruitless negotiations have yielded no deal, allowing a bad situation to deteriorate further. Getting all or even most of the JCPOA's original benefits in checking the Iranian nuclear program is no longer possible. Iran's enrichment has already marched too far ahead to be effectively rolled back. Making headway requires a new U.S. strategy toward Iran combining carrots, coercion, and deterrence. The writer, former deputy director general for policy at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and head of the Bureau of International Security and Arms Control in the Israel Ministry of Defense, is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
2022-07-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive