Iran’s New ‘Nuclear’ Weapon

Excerpt

The Islamic Republic isn’t a problem that can be wished away through quick fixes. Countering Iran, which is a far less challenging foe than the former Soviet Union and communist-turned-fascist China, is, nonetheless, a demanding prospect. And we know what doesn’t work: Arms-control agreements laced with financial dividends didn’t transform the Islamist regime into a responsible state.

If anything, Barack Obama’s nuclear deal provided the cash that allowed Tehran to intensify its malevolent behavior. Washington’s exclusive focus on Iran’s nuclear threat also told Tehran that its proxy-war strategy against Israel wouldn’t encounter any serious American opposition. Any new nuclear deal, if one is even possible today, will likely recertify all the crippling weaknesses of the first accord and possibly add more. 

Eric S. Edelman was undersecretary of defense for policy (2005-2009) and has served as the co-chair for the congressionally mandated Commissions to review the National Defense Strategy in 2018 and 2024. Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.