James Carafano: Biden vs. Iran – can president avoid nuclear deal deja vu?

Tehran just rejected President Biden’s offer for direct nuclear talks – pretty clear evidence that the mullahs want Uncle Sam to grovel more before they’ll deign to come back to the table.

Consider what’s at stake. Over the last four years, the United States made great progress establishing a sustainable footprint in the Middle East – one small enough that the U.S. is not expected or obliged to solve every problem in the region, but big enough to secure our major goals there.   An emboldened Iran with an influx of cash and investment will only make the world worse. Those goals are important: preventing nuclear proliferation; combating violent extremism and terrorism that threatens regional and global security, and blocking Iran’s destabilizing influence in the Middle East. Accomplishing these goals will not only make the world a safer place, it will make the region a better security, energy and economic partner.