National Review
Biden State Department Makes Iran’s Body Count Disappear in Time for Talks
In his first address to the State Department in early February, President Biden ambitiously described the need for U.S. leadership to counter what he termed, “this new moment of advancing authoritarianism” around the world. Most political scientists agree that authoritarian states are primarily concerned with the quelling of domestic opposition and attempts to short-circuit the political process within a state, especially using harsh means, to maintain the status quo. By that standard, Iran’s theocracy is certainly authoritarian. From the time Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his Islamist backers seized power in Iran in 1979, the regime has existed through maintaining a reign of terror over its citizens. And yet, even while decrying “advancing authoritarianism,” the Biden administration engages in a diplomatic tango with the mullahs who lead the Islamic Republic. Tomorrow, the United…
