James Carafano: Iran acting tough – Biden team is being sent this message

With the Biden team pledging to rush back to the Iran deal without preconditions, most would expect Tehran to be on its best behavior. That, however, misjudges the Iranian perspective.

On Monday, Iran seized a South Korean oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Just a few days earlier, maritime security firms spotted what could be a limpet mine attached to the hull of another oil tanker – something the Iranians have done in the past.  This is about Iran getting an even sweeter deal than they got from Obama.   Twenty percent of the world’s oil travels through the shipping lanes in that narrow strait. And even as the Iranian military threatens those vital supplies, Tehran has been ramping up the tension on other fronts as well. Last week, the government also announced it was starting to enrich uranium up to 20% – a gross violation of the Iran deal and a precursor to enriching uranium to levels where it could fuel a nuclear bomb.