This deal leads to war

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Pastor Saeed Abedini, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, and former Marine Corps Sgt. Amir Hekmati represent the essence of what makes America American — yet today all three are unjustly imprisoned in Iran.

That these individuals languish in jail while their captors repeatedly dine with America’s secretary of state is of course repugnant. But such commentary would be rejected as short-sighted by the defenders of the Obama administration’s negotiations with Tehran. They would no doubt tell us to look at the bigger picture and approach international diplomacy with the detached realism that necessitates sacrificing a few for the many.

But given the values they represent, might the unjust incarceration of these three American citizens — a pastor, a journalist and a Marine — inform our larger understanding of striking a deal with the Islamic Republic?

Any nuclear deal with Iran that ignores Tehran’s belligerence legitimizes that behavior. By compartmentalizing the nuclear issue, the White House is overlooking the very reasons the world is so concerned with the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran. And they aren’t doing it alone.

In Congress, the Obama administration’s lead blockers are Sen’s Chris Coons, D-Del., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Coons is seeking to remove language from the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act that requires the Obama administration to certify Tehran is not supporting terrorism. Murphy is trying to empower President Obama to waive current congressionally-mandated sanctions against Iran before Congress has had a chance to review any deal struck with the Islamic Republic.

Asking Iran to cease supporting terror, and allowing the American people to have a say over any agreement, are both standards deemed unrealistic by the White House. That the president’s Senate allies even feel the need to make these changes is a reminder that the Iranian regime is fundamentally untrustworthy — and transparently evil.

Examine the larger implications of what Tehran has done to Abedini, Rezaian, and Hekmati, as well as Iran’s actions in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and one could easily conclude that the Islamic Republic is winning what very much seems like a zero-sum game with the West. The mullahs seek to maintain their stranglehold over Persia, and expand their influence throughout the region — and they are pressing forward on both fronts free of effective American opposition.

If the U.S. is to return to our pre-Obama status in which we are feared by our enemies and trusted by our friends, we must return to the principles that enabled this country to sit at the head of the international table. We must link full sanctions relief not only to the end of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but to the end of its imperial ambitions as well. We must make clear that Tehran’s Islamic Revolution will never be exported.

If the White House provides comprehensive sanctions relief to Iran while the mullahs continue to attack American allies then we will be aiding and abetting an Iranian expansionism which will inevitably lead to war. Worse yet, a deal based on the narrative that came out of Lausanne may introduce nuclear weapons to that calamity.

Abandoning our principles — not to mention a pastor, a journalist and a Marine — in pursuit of a deal with an expansionist dictatorship invites aggression and guarantees bloodshed.

Ari Morgenstern is the Communications Director for Christians United for Israel. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions for editorials, available at this link.

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