The Washington Post Turns Against Obama on Iran

In a remarkable January 17 editorial, the Washington Post dismissed President Obama’s warning last week that he will veto any new sanctions that Congress may pass against Iran because they could undermine the ongoing talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

The Post said although it was willing to give the Obama administration the benefit of the doubt on this argument when Congress considered passing new sanctions a year ago, the paper indicated its patience has run out and noted that Tehran has indicated it plans to expand and not dismantle its nuclear infrastructure.  The editorial pointed out that on the day before nuclear talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif last week, Tehran announced the construction of two new nuclear reactors.

The Washington Post is especially upset the Iranian regime continues to detain its correspondent Jason Rezaian, a 38-year old journalist who was born and raised in California.  Rezaian has been held for 181 days, longer than any other Western journalist arrested by Tehran.  The nature of the charges against Rezaian has not been disclosed and he has not been permitted to consult with an attorney.

The Post’s editorial board concluded, “It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that [Rezaian] is being used as a human pawn in the regime’s attempt to gain leverage in the negotiations.”

Due the Iranian regime’s continued rogue behavior and failure to negotiate in good faith in the nuclear talks, the Post believes new sanctions against Iran’s battered economy would make the regime more rather than less likely to offer the concessions necessary for a deal on its nuclear program.

I was glad to see the Washington Post withdraw its cautious support for the Obama administration’s policy on the nuclear talks.  I believe the Post’s reversal on this issue reflects growing bipartisan concern in Congress about the nuclear talks.  The Center for Security Policy believes the talks were fatally flawed when they began in January 2014 and have produced a bad draft agreement which has worsened over the last year due to a series of one-sided U.S. concessions.  That’s why the Center released a letter to congressional leaders on November 14, 2014 signed by 17 prominent security policy practitioners and other national leaders denouncing the Obama administration’s conduct of the nuclear talks and the seriously defective deal likely to emerge from them.  Click HERE to read this letter.

The Washington Post is right about imposing new sanctions against Iran, but the purpose of such sanctions should be to pressure Tehran to abide by existing UN Security Council resolutions and fully cooperate with the IAEA.  The nuclear talks are so flawed that they cannot be salvaged by pressuring Tehran with more sanctions.  It is my hope the Post will join the Center for Security Policy in calling on Congress to adopt legislation repudiating the nuclear talks and calling on the Obama administration to adopt a new U.S. policy aimed at actually preventing the Iranian regime from realizing its nuclear weapons ambitions.