Theres only one way US-Iran talks should end: Halt Tehrans nuclear terror for good
The White House has called the first round of talks between US and Iranian officials in Oman “very positive and constructive.”That is good news — if, and only if, the goal of those discussions is to end, and not merely postpone, Iran’s nuclear ambitions.To be truly constructive, the negotiations must aim at preventing Iran from ever again fomenting war in the Middle East and exporting terror globally.The objective must be to build on Israel’s military victory over Iran and forge a new era of regional peace and long-term security for the United States. The previous nuclear deal — the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action — merely delayed Iran’s production of the highly enriched uranium needed to produce atomic bombs.It failed to dismantle a single enrichment facility, to contain Iran’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and to address its covert work on an atomic warhead.The fact that Iran has enriched enough uranium to make five nuclear weapons in one week demonstrates the utter ineffectiveness of the JCPOA. In addition to allowing Iran to remain a threshold nuclear power, the JCPOA gave Iran many billions of dollars in sanctions relief and business contracts.Much of those proceeds went to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
The devastating war launched by those proxies in October 2023 was in large part funded by the JCPOA.Israel nevertheless prevailed over Iran, destroying its air defenses and neutralizing its regional allies.Iranian power is today a shadow of what it was before October 2023.Israel could today strike Iranian nuclear plants with near impunity.
Little wonder, then, that Iran has welcomed talks with Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff — and it will hardly be surprising when Tehran tries to draw out the discussions long enough to restore its Russian ground-to-air batteries. The mullahs could also seek to stall negotiations until October, when the JCPOA’s provision for snapback UN sanctions on Iran exp...