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The US must restore maximum pressure against Iran

The US must restore maximum pressure against Iran The US must restore maximum pressure against Iran

Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, is making rapid progress on its nuclear program. President-elect Donald Trump must thwart Tehran’s ambitions. 

The incoming Trump administration will inherit an Iran policy whose failures are only too apparent.

The Islamic Republic has spent the last four years running roughshod over America and its allies. Iran has steadily expanded its influence in Yemen and Iraq and, until recently, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. Tehran’s terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis, have launched attacks against Israel, Gulf nations, and shipping lanes that are essential for global trade. Iranian-backed groups have launched dozens of attacks on U.S. troops, wounding and killing Americans.

The extent to which Iran has been emboldened is all too clear. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and other Iranian proxies invaded Israel, perpetrating the largest slaughter of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. The Hamas-led attack unleashed the most devastating war in the Middle East in decades. Iran has even plotted to murder former U.S. officials on American soil.

Yet the Biden administration has remained wedded to its policy of appeasing the Iranian regime. In fact, as recently as November 2024, the White House quietly extended a sanctions waiver that will give Iran access to approximately $10 billion from Iraq. This is but the latest in a rather long list of policies that treat Tehran with child gloves.

Shortly after taking office, the Biden administration removed the foreign terrorist organization designation that had been placed on the Houthis, Iran’s Yemen-based proxy. Other efforts followed, including significant sanctions relief and a failure to enforce sanctions that were designed to curtail Tehran’s capabilities. 

America’s outstretched hand was often met with Iran’s closed fist. The Islamic Republic continued to plot and perpetrate terrorist attacks, both in the Middle East and beyond. Iran has also continued to plot the assassination of Americans, including former national security adviser John Bolton and even Trump himself. Under Biden, attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East have not only increased, but more often than not, the administration declined to respond in any meaningful way.

By continually seeking an accommodation with the Islamic Republic — even while the regime was plotting assassinations and attacking troops — the Biden White House broke long-standing bipartisan norms. It was a sharp break with the successful Iran strategy that it inherited.

The Trump administration adopted an approach of “maximum pressure” against Tehran. This included a vigorous sanctions regime, active sanctions enforcement, and building a regional coalition to counter the Islamic Republic. It also included surgical strikes, including eliminating Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, in a January 2020 strike. These efforts restored American deterrence and reassured allies.

Trump’s recognition that Iran was destabilizing the Middle East led to a series of stunning achievements, including the Abraham Accords and greater relations between Israel and Muslim nations. The sanctions were effective: At the beginning of 2021, the International Monetary Fund estimated, “Iran was down to four billion dollars in accessible foreign exchange reserves.”

As one former member of the U.S. National Security Council observed, Iran was “up against a wall.”

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However, the past four years have witnessed both eroding American deterrence in the Middle East and growing Iranian aggression. China has also expanded its influence, bolstering relations with both Arab nations and Iran.

Tehran has reportedly made inroads in its quest to obtain nuclear weapons. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has amassed enough highly enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons. It is time to return to a more successful approach.

Sean Durns is a Senior Research Analyst for CAMERA, the 65,000-member, Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis

This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com

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