The evident failure of the United States to deter Iran
is manifest in the concurrent aggressions of its three
Twelver Shia militias in Lebanon (Hezllah), Syria, and
Iraq, which have wounded many American troops and
killed three; the aggression of the Fiver Shia Houthi
militia of Yemen that has attacked U.S. as well as other
ships in the Red Sea with Iran’s missiles and drones,
seriously damaging the Egyptian and world econ
omy; the Iran-funded aggressions in Gaza of the Shia
Islamic Jihad and, on a much larger scale, the violence
of Sunni Hamas—all would be inexplicable given Iran’s
extreme economic fragility and the severe limita
t
ions of its armed forces, were it not for the persisting
effect of Obama’s one contribution to American for
eign policy: his Iran negotiations, whose protagonists
remain on center stage in Washington.