Mideast Failure Leads Biden Back to Trump Policies

Mr. Biden’s previous approach to Iran featured a failed effort to return to the nuclear deal, lax application of sanctions, repeated releases of frozen assets, and a general disinclination toward conflict with the theocracy and its proxies. Of course, Mr. Trump’s Iran policy wasn’t as strong as it should have been either. His administration exerted economic pressure but didn’t respond militarily to the regime’s provocations in 2019, including scuttling ships in Emirati ports, downing a U.S. drone in international airspace, and attacking Saudi Aramco operations. Ultimately, the sanctions didn’t succeed in restarting nuclear negotiations for a better deal. But the Trump administration understood that proxies were part of the Iran problem. To that end, it supported the Saudis in their war against the Houthis, targeted the Hashd, and periodically attacked the proxies’ Iranian masters. The Biden administration’s latest policy reversals, along with targeting the Hashd and Houthi militias, may suggest a new, comprehensive understanding of the Iran problem...

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