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U.S. Working to Constrain Israel before Announcing New Iran Deal
(Tablet) Michael Doran - In recent weeks, President Biden has revived discussions with Tehran. While Biden and his team claim to be working to halt the advance of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, their unstated goal is to constrain Israel, permanently. Two years ago, Biden officials suggested that their policy toward Iran was a temporary posture, that their patience with Tehran was running thin, and that, if results weren't forthcoming, a tougher policy would result. Since then, Iran has brutally suppressed the worst protests in its history, advanced its nuclear weapons program considerably, pursued plots to murder former American officials on American soil, and developed a defense industrial cooperation with the Russian military. Biden officials favor a strategy based on the assumptions that accommodation with Iran is both possible and in the American interest. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rests his case for military action on the time-tested logic of deterrence. If the U.S. and Israel truly seek to stop Iran from acquiring a bomb, then they must persuade Tehran that they will exact a price that is too painful for it to bear. The writer is Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute.