Four Years of 'Maximum Pressure' Failure

Iran hawks ran an experiment for the last four years, it blew up in our faces, and as usual they have paid no political price for their disastrous judgment.

It has been four years since the U.S. reneged on its commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the awful results of the “maximum pressure” campaign are clear for all to see. Iran’s nuclear program is more advanced, more sophisticated, and under far fewer restrictions than it was before the U.S. went back on its word, and the effort to restore the agreement appears to be failing. The U.S. and Iran have nearly gone to war twice in this period, and if the nuclear deal fully collapses there is an even greater risk of conflict. The example of the U.S. promising sanctions relief and then revoking it for no good reason has demonstrated again that U.S. diplomatic commitments are unreliable and not to be trusted. It is in the interests of all parties to the agreement to salvage it before that happens, but incredibly this administration does not seem to be willing to make the necessary concessions to prevent a collapse.