Editorial Board
First Make Iran Mend Fences With Its Neighbors
The U.S. should link nuclear talks to Iranian efforts toward regional peace.
Not all of Iran’s menaces are nuclear
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
President Joe Biden has long been forthright in his desire to bring the U.S. back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Now he’s laying out a vision for doing so: If Iran returns to full compliance with the deal, he says, the U.S. will reciprocate. Then talks can begin — with Iran’s neighbors at the table — on “a longer and stronger agreement,” as Biden’s secretary of state put it.
These are the right ideas, but in the wrong order. Biden would be wise to return to negotiations, but wiser still to demand that Iran engage in good-faith peace talks with its neighbors before the U.S. will make a move.