The ‘Worst Deal Ever’ That Actually Wasn’t
Today, the Iran nuclear deal turns two years old. In its critics’ eyes, it has already failed. President Donald Trump and many of his supporters complain that it has not changed Iran’s regional behavior, pointing to Tehran’s continued support for regional proxies and ongoing ballistic missile tests as proof. Other critics, including Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, David Perdue, and Marco Rubio, who wrote a letter to the administration denouncing the deal just this week, suggest that Iran may actually be violating it. They allege a range of technical violations, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency—and Trump’s State Department, for that matter—have confirmed Iran’s compliance.
In fact, the deal is doing exactly what is was supposed to do: prevent Iran from acquiring enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, demonstrate to the Iranian public the benefits of cooperation with the international community, and buy time for potential changes in Iranian politics and foreign policy.
Anyone who thought a deal would immediately change Iran’s regional agenda or who maintains that, if only America and its partners had insisted on such changes in the talks they would have materialized, has a misguided sense of
