As required by the nuclear deal with Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued its official report on the possible military dimensions of Tehran’s nuclear program. Emily Landau notes that although the report is “shallow and inconclusive,” its authors are certain that the Islamic Republic was violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) through 2009. The U.S., however, has long been planning to ignore this report:

It is not clear whether the [IAEA] investigation will continue or not, and if so, with what degree of emphasis. What is clear is that . . . the Obama administration, [and the other parties to the deal], apparently had no intention of including the investigation into Iran’s past military nuclear program as an integral part of the negotiations on a comprehensive and final deal with Iran, despite clear statements to the contrary. . . .

Although a full understanding of how Iran cheated in the past on its NPT commitment . . . is crucial to carving out effective verification measures regarding future Iranian compliance, the U.S. administration [has] preferred to ignore the past and focus only on the future. Moreover, although a clear determination that Iran had done wrong in the nuclear realm—in direct contradiction to Iran’s false narrative of being a stellar member of the NPT—would have given the [the U.S. and its allies] badly needed leverage during the diplomatic talks, negotiators preferred to avoid a conclusion that they claimed might “humiliate” Iran.

Robert Satloff has some harsh words for the U.S. government in this regard, words I take especially seriously because Satloff is someone inclined to political moderation. Why, he asks, have American diplomats failed to achieve anything in their endless rounds of talks in Doha and Cairo? Because

there is simply not enough pressure on Hamas to change course, accept a deal, and release the remaining October 7 hostages, stuck in nightmarish captivity. . . . In this environment, why should Hamas change course?

Publicly, the U.S. should bite the bullet and urge Israel to complete the main battle operations in Gaza—i.e., the Rafah operation—as swiftly and efficiently as possible. We should be assertively assisting with the humanitarian side of this.

Satloff had more to say about the hostages, especially the five American ones, in a speech he gave recently:

I am ashamed—ashamed of how we have allowed the story of the hostages to get lost in the noise of the war that followed their capture; ashamed of how we have permitted their release to be a bargaining chip in some larger political negotiation; ashamed of how we have failed to give them the respect and dignity and our wholehearted demand for Red Cross access and care and medicine that is our normal, usual demand for hostages.

If they were taken by Boko Haram, everyone would know their name. If they were taken by the Taliban, everyone would tie a yellow ribbon around a tree for them. If they were taken by Islamic State, kids would learn about them in school.

It is repugnant to see their freedom as just one item on the bargaining table with Hamas, as though they were chattel. These are Americans—and they deserve to be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.