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No Iran Deal Is Better Than Any (Feasible) Deal
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) James F. Jeffrey - The Obama administration appears headed toward a nuclear agreement that will do little more than memorialize the limited Iranian concessions made in last year's Joint Plan of Action (JPOA). This is a bad deal for the U.S. Almost any feasible formal agreement would represent a major defeat for the U.S. - in the current global context, a JPOA-like deal would be seen as yielding to Iran and giving hostile states more legitimacy. Moreover, such a deal would not much reduce the Iranian nuclear threat. With these problems in mind, the administration may want to consider another course of action that does not depend on reaching a formal agreement. If the deadlock persists, Washington should freeze the negotiations and keep existing sanctions at their current level. The U.S. should lay out clear redlines for military action that would apply if Iran approaches a nuclear weapons capability or blocks inspections. Moreover, the U.S. should cooperate with, rather than attempt to rein in, Israel's deterrent threat. This includes providing more weapons and systems to Israel that could facilitate a strike, and continuing the improvement of U.S. military capabilities in the Persian Gulf, especially missile defense. Central to this alternative is a U.S. commitment to use force if a redline is crossed, or eventually face a nuclear-armed Iran. The writer served as U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Iraq.