Iran’s Proxies Pounce as Biden Tries to Negotiate
The president has a lot to learn from his predecessor’s approach.
Cleaning up after an attack in Erbil.
Photographer: SAFIN HAMED/AFPSince President Joe Biden took office, Iran’s regional proxies have been busy. This month alone, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed credit for a drone attack against Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport; one of the most prominent critics of Hezbollah, the journalist Lokman Slim, was found murdered in his car in Lebanon; and in Iraqi Kurdistan, a front group for one of the country’s most deadly Shiite militias claimed credit for a series of rocket attacks in and around Erbil.
It all feels like a chilling replay of U.S. foreign policy under former President Barack Obama. While U.S. diplomats were negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the regime’s proxies went on a rampage. After those talks ended, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani defied U.N. travel restrictions and went to Moscow to negotiate his own deal with Russia to protect and defend Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Obama denounced that escalation and sent his secretary of state to plead for restraint and cease-fires, but the effort had no effect.