|
Trending Topics
|
How Iran Fuels Negative Perceptions - and What that Means for the Nuclear Deal
(Wall Street Journal) Aaron David Miller - Maybe the reason so many Americans don't like the Iran nuclear agreement is because they believe Iran is run by a very bad regime unworthy of being respected and trusted. Pew polling in June found that only 14% of Americans had a favorable view of Iran. Yes, the U.S. has reached agreements before with some tough authoritarian regimes. But when President Richard Nixon visited China, Americans were able to see their president being warmly received in that country. Nothing about that applies to Iran, where the supreme leader continues to speak negatively of the U.S. The Obama administration has a hard sell in arguing that the nuclear deal can somehow be separated from Iran's behavior at home or abroad when Iran is holding Americans and has been designated by U.S. intelligence as the leading sponsor of terrorism in the region. The facts are the facts: The Obama administration has cut a deal with a repressive, anti-Semitic, anti-American regime. The writer is a vice president at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.