Der Iran will, dass Trump einen Obama abzieht

After Iran violently suppressed protests in 2009, President Obama sought to trade U.S. silence for nuclear negotiations. Now Tehran is hoping President Trump will make the same mistake. That was the logic of Tuesday’s nuclear talks in Geneva. Though the military firepower that Mr. Trump has sent to the region leaves reason to wonder about his plans.

The President promised to come to the aid of the Iranian people in January, as they were massacred by their rulers at greater scale than ever before. This should be a moment to confront the true nature of the Iranian regime. Yet U.S. officials are again mired in discussions about nuclear enrichment, stockpiled uranium and regional consortia.

Does Iran have two weeks to spare? Perhaps, as a second U.S. aircraft-carrier strike group heads to the region. But on Tuesday Axios reported that the U.S. moved more than 50 F-35, F-22 and F-16 jet fighters to the region in the preceding 24 hours.

Mr. Trump prizes flexibility, and he could ignore any red line he has drawn, as Mr. Obama did at great cost in Syria. But given the ideas Iran has floated so far, a deal would likely require Mr. Trump to cave. Why would he do that while the regime is afraid of its own people, badly weakened militarily by Israel and under financial pressure?