August 3, 2021 | National Review

It’s Time for Biden to Leave a Bad Deal in the Past

A change in Iranian presidents doesn’t change the badness of the Iran deal.
August 3, 2021 | National Review

It’s Time for Biden to Leave a Bad Deal in the Past

A change in Iranian presidents doesn’t change the badness of the Iran deal.

When Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei selected Ebrahim Raisi to be the next president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khamenei was sending Washington a message akin to Nikita Khrushchev’s infamous 1956 pronouncement: “We will bury you.” But don’t tell that to the unflappable advocates of appeasement in Washington who insist it is always the right time for rapprochement with Iran.

Raisi is a hanging judge who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to die, and he remains ideologically devoted to the Islamic Revolution. Yet somehow, the appeasers believe his inauguration this week will magically open the door to peace for our time.

Back in 2013, this same group was promoting a completely different narrative. After the supreme leader selected the supposedly moderate Hassan Rouhani to be president following eight years of threats and bluster from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Western newspapers and analysts hailed Rouhani’s elevation as a sure sign that Iran was passing into Thermidor.

“Iranians took a step toward ending their country’s isolation by voting overwhelmingly in weekend presidential elections for a moderate reformer who promised a clean break from policies that put Iran on a collision course with the West,” wrote the Washington Post. “Rouhani will have a powerful mandate to improve Iran’s international relations and attempt to negotiate a settlement of Iran’s nuclear activities.”

An article in the New York Times, headlined “President-Elect Stirs Optimism in Iran and West,” noted that “there is growing optimism in Iran and in the West that Mr. Rouhani, 64, is ready to restart serious talks on the nuclear issue.”

Issues:

Issues:

Iran Iran Global Threat Network Iran Nuclear Iran Politics and Economy Iran Sanctions Sanctions and Illicit Finance

Topics:

Topics:

Ali Khamenei Argentina Barack Obama Ebrahim Raisi Gaza City Hamas Houthi movement Iran Iranian Revolution Iraq Islam Israel Jake Sullivan Joe Biden Johns Hopkins University Mahmoud Ahmadinejad New York Richard Goldberg Saudi Arabia Supreme National Security Council Tehran The New York Times The Washington Post United States United States Congress United States Department of Justice United States Department of the Treasury United States National Security Council Yemen