Excerpt Below:
Historic events in Syria are heightening the stakes of another major Middle East crisis that already awaits President-elect Trump. Following its other recent losses in the region, the evaporation of Iran’s ally in Damascus will reinforce its motivation to finish working toward a nuclear weapon and redouble its efforts to ensnare the incoming administration in negotiations.
Tehran is not showing goodwill or offering concessions but instead building leverage to coerce relief from sanctions and military threats. It also wants to run out the clock on “snap back” of tough United Nations bans on its nuclear and conventional weapons programs.
Ambassador Eric Edelman and Gen. Charles Wald, USAF (ret.) co-chair the Iran Policy Project at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), where they are a distinguished scholar and a distinguished fellow, respectively. Edelman is a former undersecretary of Defense for Policy and Wald is the former deputy commander of U.S. European Command.
Originally Published in The Hill.