In nuclear talks, Iran turns the tables

The nuclear talks with Iran, which resumed this week, are premised on the claim that supposedly “all options” remain on the table for halting Tehran’s nuclear program, if negotiations flop. That would imply that Washington and its partners have made that threat credible, that they shape the terms of these (in my view, misbegotten) negotiations, that they define certain red lines. And more: you might also suppose that Iran feels itself blessed to be invited to a seat at the table.

Tehran instead appears to be humoring us, while running down the clock.

Signaling its perspective, with the nuance of a wrecking ball, Tehran has come out with a video glamorizing its military capabilities. Missiles shoot up into the sky, then blow lots of stuff to bits, in sync with a soaring musical soundtrack. The video’s message is that Iran feels up to the job of fending off airborne attacks on its nuclear facilities. Naturally, like a trailer for a videogame, it ends with a chest-thumping tagline: “We shall trample on the U.S.”

Back at the negotiations in Vienna, observe who’s shaping the terms and tracing out  a red line. According to Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, the talks have started well, but “to us, what has been announced as dismantling Iran’s program and facilities is not on the agenda.” Ultimately, the negotiations “will lead nowhere,” said Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, but he said that he would not block them. How magnanimous.

The Iranian regime has arrogated to itself a position of strength. We’ve let it. For years.

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An aside: I highly recommend Dancing with the Devil by Michael Rubin, published this month. Diplomacy with “rogue” regimes like Tehran, Rubin argues, can be enormously destructive. A highlight of the book is an excellent chapter on the history of negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran—and how they emboldened that regime.

Image: Filip Bjorkman/Shutterstock.com

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