Negotiate Now to Limit Range of Iranian Bombs

Earlier this summer, the Trump administration chalked up a number of supposed achievements in its ongoing efforts to contain Iran’s ballistic missile program. U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law additional sanctions, while U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley coaxed the British, French, and German UN representatives into officially criticizing the launch of Iran’s Simorgh space launch vehicle (SLV) in late July as threatening and provocative. The Trump administration quickly placed sanctions on Iranian companies that support Tehran’s space program.

While pleasing to a president and many others in both parties in Washington who appear determined to blow up the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement that limits Iran’s nuclear program, these efforts are as inaccurately off-target as the Iranian missile strike on terrorists in Syria last June. Worse, they display a fundamental unwillingness to understand and account for Tehran’s genuine political and security needs. This blinds Washington to opportunities to limit Iran’s ballistic missile forces to their current ranges, which are well short of posing an intercontinental threat to the U.S. homeland.