Obama and his summer of love for the mullahs in Iran

President Obama can change tack, and he should, but for now he has mired foreign policy in an unsustainable one-way deal with Iran that he owns entirely

One year after President Obama struck his nuclear deal with Iran without congressional approval, it has become clear that it was sold with a slew of falsehoods.
The misrepresentations to Congress were multitudinous. Secretary of State John Kerry promised that the ayatollahs would be prohibited from testing ballistic missiles. But when Iran did test such missiles, the administration acquiesced, choosing to harrumph about it being 'inconsistent' with the agreement rather than declaring it a 'violation' that undid the deal.
Obama promised that the International Atomic Energy Agency would be allowed to complete its investigation into Iran's past nuclear work, so it would be possible to verify the deal by knowing the true baseline of Tehran's nuke development. But IAEA inspectors have not been given necessary access, and as of this week remain unable to explain or account for evidence strongly suggesting secret nuclear development activities.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was among those who promised that Washington would keep up pressure on Iran's economy. This hasn't happened either. Lew testified last summer that Iran 'will continue to be denied access' to the U.S. market, and that sanctions against Iranian dollar access and Americans importing and exporting into Iran would remain in place.
But the administration has bent over backwards to allow deals through, including the purchase of Iranian heavy water and a big deal with Boeing now under discussion on Capitol Hill.
Worse yet, the administration has used the Iran deal as an excuse to weaken American laws aimed at punishing the mullahs for their continued sponsorship of terrorism. This too contradicts promises now a year old.
Treasury Undersecretary Adam Szubin testified last summer that the nuclear deal 'in no way limits' Congress' ability to pass such laws. In December, Obama signed such a law related to travel to countries that sponsor terrorism. But as soon as Iran declared this a violation of the deal, Obama responded by waiving the law's provisions with respect to Iran, which the law itself explicitly forbids.
There were other lies used to dupe Congress. The list above is not intended as an exhaustive indictment, just a sampler menu.
The deal, as it has turned out — it seems to bind only Obama and his administration rather than the Iranians — probably could not have survived the weak stamp of supermajority disapproval that Congress was allowed.
And it did violence to the Constitution, for it was a treaty in all but name, and treaties require ratification in the Senate, which this one did not have. But after decades during which one presidency after another has arrogated power to the executive and upset the fine balance put in place by the Founding Fathers, one cannot be surprised by Obama's unilateralism and selective enforcement of laws and deals.
Congress has allowed its rights, privileges and duties to be usurped, and it and the rest of the country are now paying the price.
But that does not mean it must sit pathetically and wring its hands. It should put some substance back into this deal that makes it less damaging. There are many pieces of legislation already drafted to try to make the Iran deal resemble what Obama promised. For example, one would stop the Boeing deal, or at least prevent the Export-Import Bank financing it.
Naturally, the administration, with Iranian and legacy interests closest to its heart, is resisting legislative efforts to haul the deal back into alignment with Obama's promises. His resistance indictates to the tyrants that they need not moderate their behavior, and suggests that he never intended to keep his promises. There was just so much snakeoil to ease the deal's passage up and over Capitol Hill.
Obama can change track, and he should, but for now he has mired foreign policy in an unsustainable one-way deal that he owns entirely. It was negotiated with great deference to the Iranian regime and without appropriate majority support of the public's elected representatives.
His successor will be forced to clean up this mess. One hopes it will not be a radioactive blast zone.