March 12, 2025
Don’t Trust Russia to Mediate the Iran Nuclear Deal
This month, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to mediate a new nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran after reportedly being asked to by U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call in February. In a meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio allegedly followed up on the president’s request in speaking with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Trump has made clear he wants a new deal with Iran. He said as much when he signed an executive order last month reimplementing the maximum pressure campaign. He did so again this month, reportedly, in a letter he sent directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The White House should immediately abandon this unwise pursuit. Simply put, Russia’s shared interests with Iran make it an unsuitable mediator and will surely work to undermine America’s interests in the Middle East and those of America’s partners and allies. Long an arsonist in the Middle East, Washington should distrust Moscow’s attempt to don a firefighter’s helmet now.
Preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon is of critical importance to U.S. security and the security of Israel and partners throughout the Middle East.
Believing Putin shares America’s long-held, bipartisan interest in forever preventing the development of an Iranian bomb is tantamount to believing the wolf can negotiate on behalf of the fox to reach a nonaggression pact with the hen house. The wolf and the fox are more likely to carve up the chickens between them than negotiate a deal in good faith that preserves the poultry.
With respect to Europe, Trump has shifted U.S. policy precipitously. Whereas former President Joe Biden sought to work with NATO allies to support Ukraine’s defense against an illegal and unprovoked war of aggression by Russia, Trump has swung away from Kyiv, openly criticizing Ukraine and America’s European allies for being ungrateful for U.S. support and insufficiently capable of providing for their own security. While Trump clearly seeks rapprochement with Russia over the future of Ukraine, it would be an error to invite Moscow to play intermediary with Iran over the nuclear issue.
Read the full article on Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
The Sound of Munich: Autonomy, Anxiety, and the Twilight of Transatlantic Order
Commentary
This article was originally published in War on the Rocks. Munich was warmer than Washington this weekend, both in weather and in sentiment. Neither development was widely fo...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Migration Can Provide the Manpower for European DefenseThis article was originally published in Foreign Policy. Europe faces parallel challenges that policymakers have yet to connect: a pressing military recruitment shortage and a...
By Adham Sahloul
-
Can Europe (Ever) Defend Itself?
Podcast
Today’s Brussels Sprouts discussion follows on from our conversation last week on whether middle powers have the ability to chart a course more independent of the United State...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend & Franz-Stefan Gady
-
There’s a Way Forward for Sovereign European Space Intel, but Is There the Will?
Commentary
This article was originally published in Space News. Germany’s top intelligence officials made waves last year by calling for the creation of a European spy network to lessen ...
By Cameron Olbert
