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Biden Doesn't Need to Rush Back into the Iran Nuclear Deal to Defuse Tensions
(Washington Post) Dennis Ross - Iran has clearly decided to pressure the incoming Biden administration, conveying that, whatever its priorities, it had better deal with the Islamic Republic soon. The new president's position is compliance for compliance, meaning that we cannot lift sanctions before the Iranians are back in compliance - and by most estimates, it will take the Iranians a few months to do so. In addition, the Iranians are demanding compensation for what the sanctions have cost them and insisting that the U.S., not Iran, must act first. Iran's provocative actions are designed to get the Biden administration to give Iran sanctions relief before anything else is done. Negotiations are never easy with the Iranians. If the Biden administration wants to produce follow-on negotiations that will require more from the Iranians, it might make sense not to rejoin the nuclear deal. The writer is counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and served in senior national security positions under four presidents.