Obama should thank Trump for putting Iran on notice

Perhaps the deal’s supporters believe Iran’s Sunni neighbors and Israel would just allow Iran to keep testing with no real consequences. But that’s a risky bet. And it’s made even riskier in light of Iran’s aggressive shadow war throughout the region. The Yemeni Houthi militias it has armed, trained and equipped just attacked a Saudi ship in the Red Sea. These skirmishes can quickly escalate. How likely is it that the nuclear deal would survive such an escalation?

One way to reduce the risk of a regional war Iran and its proxies are currently stoking is through deterrence. Because Trump’s advisers have yet to present a new war plan to take out the Islamic State, it also makes sense that the U.S. position on Iran should be vague. Let the regime’s imagination run wild. Who knows what else Trump will do?

Now it should be said that Iranian officials have long publicly warned that their proud nation does not respond well to threats. As the Iranian-Swedish activist Trita Parsi wrote Thursday in the Huffington Post, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is fond of saying Iranians are “allergic to threats.”

But this just isn’t true. Threats and pressure have worked well with Iran. Look no further than the nuclear deal itself. Iran only agreed to even negotiate with the U.S. and five other great powers after the world imposed crippling sanctions on its oil exports and central bank. It took the threat of economic collapse to get Iran to start negotiations.