Eric Brewer is a deputy vice president at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and has served on the National Security Council and National Intelligence Council.
Henry Rome was a Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, specializing in Iran sanctions, economic, and nuclear issues.
Articles & Testimony
The administration is essentially trying to kick the can down the road in order to avoid worse scenarios, but this approach may backfire without firmer steps to slow Iran’s nuclear progress in the meantime.
If the Biden administration has given up on Plan A for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program—reviving the JCPOA—it has also shied away from pivoting to the Plan B proposed by many analysts as well as Israeli officials: heaping economic, political, and military pressure on Tehran. Instead, it has opted for Plan C, an attempt to prevent the worst outcomes of the nuclear standoff while retaining the possibility of resolving it in the future. Washington seeks to prevent an Iranian bomb, avoid the risky escalation that could come with heightened pressure, and kick the can on a diplomatic solution in the hopes that conditions for a new deal to replace the JCPOA become more favorable over time. But even if it is successful, Plan C would come with costs...
