Everything we know about the Iranian leaders tells us that their goals are sharply different from ours

Obama's quest for a grand bargain with Iran seems unwise

BY MICHAEL BARONE 

“We will extend a hand if you are unwilling to unclench your fist,” President Obama proclaimed in his inaugural address in January 2009. He characterized those to whom this was addressed in negative terms, but the implication was that this president, unlike his predecessor, would be willing to negotiate with and make concessions to unfriendly nations.

It is a promise he has striven to keep, with Russia initially and Cuba more recently, but most of all to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The hand has been extended, more than once. But has the fist come unclenched?

That question has become increasingly uncomfortable and pressing as negotiations over nuclear weapons drag on. In a 9,000-word article in Mosaic magazine, former Bush staffer Michael Doranmakes a powerful case that the answer is no — and that “a grand bargain with Iran” has been and remains the central goal of Obama’s foreign policy.

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