Iran calls Obama's bluff

Since signing a nuclear deal with the Obama administration last summer, Iran's theocratic regime has twice been caught testing ballistic missiles, in one case firing them near a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. This is a black-and-white violation of the nuclear deal and it carries a prescribed consequence in the form of new punitive sanctions.

In fact, when Congress considered whether to block the deal or allow it to proceed, many nervous Democrats were persuaded by this provision and others like it.

Yet now that the Iranians have violated it, Obama prefers to throw away one of the few solid achievements that emerged from his negotiations with the mullahs. His administration announced last week that sanctions would be delayed, prompting statements of disappointment from Republicans and Democrats alike.

The reason for the delay is that Iran is threatening to back out of the deal if Obama enforces it. Iran's defiance and Obama's havering demonstrate that the mullahs feel less bound by the deal than he does. He's worried that it will collapse, but they aren't. Obama seems willing to sacrifice enforcement to preserve the illusion that a two-sided deal really exists.