While for eleven days all eyes were on Gaza, America reportedly made significant gains in President Biden’s drive to revive the articles of appeasement with Iran. Opponents of that deal, struck in 2015 by President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry, will turn now to Vienna, where hush-hush talks resume today.

The talks are designed to bring back from the dead the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It was opposed by both houses of Congress at the time it was adopted by Mr. Obama, who got the United Nations Security Council to give it the ratification that Congress wouldn’t grant. President Trump withdrew from the deal.

Recent diplomacy at Vienna seems to have made what the Biden administration is likely to see as progress. That means that the regime in Tehran, which is constitutionally committed to jihad, is about to get wealthier. As the Islamic Republic’s president, Hasan Rouhani, said in a publicly-aired cabinet meeting Thursday, “the talks in Vienna are about minor issues.”

While Western diplomats pushed back some, Mr. Rouhani insisted that American negotiators have already “agreed to lift sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping sectors as well as sanctions on the Central Bank and others.” Those sanctions, and others imposed by the Trump administration since America withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, significantly hurt the Iranian economy.

As a result, opposition to the clerical regime inside Iran has widened, threatening the core foundations of the Islamic Republic. Participation in next month’s Iranian presidential election is widely predicted to be sparse. Anti-regime activists tell me they’re lobbying to assure that no more than 20% of eligible voters go to the polls, denying the regime any credible mandate.

No wonder the ayatollahs are eager to conclude the Vienna talks before the June 18 election. They hope removal of sanctions would boost participation and legitimize its anointed winner. While no Western official confirmed Mr. Rouhani’s boast about nearing a deal in Vienna, there are indications that America is eager to accommodate the regime’s preferred timeline.

An unidentified Washington official is quoted by Reuters as saying “a deal could be revived before the elections.” The official insisted, however, that Tehran must avoid asking Washington to do more than what was envisaged in the original agreement. He also said Iran shouldn’t seek to do less than what it was supposed to do under the JCPOA.

Such display of insistence on strict compliance represents an American retreat. In his Senate confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Blinken said America is seeking a “longer and stronger” agreement than the original JCPOA. Yet in Vienna Americans are now struggling to convince the Iranians to merely abide by the 2015 undertakings.

In addition, Washington initially said it wouldn’t even talk to the Iranians before they reverse all their JCPOA violations. Yet here we are, negotiating — albeit indirectly — at Vienna. Some international economic sanctions have already been removed, with America’s quiet acquiescence, even while Iran continues to enrich uranium beyond levels demanded by the JCPOA.

While Iran’s presidential election calendar pushes Tehran and their American counterparts ever so closer, the attacks on Israel by Hamas were a godsend for the team headed by Mr. Biden’s Iran envoy, Robert Malley. The attacks meant that some JCPOA opponents had to turn their attention to answering the Democratic Party’s growing anti-Israel wing, led by Senator Sanders and Representatives Ocasio-Corte, Tlaib, and Omar.

This is a moment to remember that the more than 4,000 rockets lobbed at Israel’s civilian population centers in the latest battle are funded, supplied, and constantly upgraded by the Islamic Republic. Tehran can be expected to re-supply Hamas’s depleted arsenal. According to the JCPOA, a ban on Iranian exports of non-nuclear weapons expired last winter. So the Obama-Kerry deal means Tehran can now arm Gaza terrorists legally.

One of the outcomes of the 11-day war is that Hamas now holds sway among Palestinians who admire Hamas’s supposed grit, tenacity, and military prowess — and never mind the utter devastation Hamas brought down upon Gaza. That same Hamas, alongside the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is a member of Tehran’s growing network of proxy armies that unite under the banner of “resistance.”

The articles of appeasement struck by Messrs. Obama and Kerry ignored those forces. No wonder Mr. Blinken initially vowed to seek “wider and stronger” agreement, rather than simply return to the flawed 2015 deal as written. In Vienna, though, his aspiration is now forgotten.

On Thursday Mr. Biden defied the far left of his party by vowing to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defense. Yet if Washington also allows Iran’s dwindling coffers to refill via the JCPOA, Hamas will soon be back to its old tricks and Washington will need to replenish Israel’s defenses yet again. And — you can take it to the bank — again, and again, and again.

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Twitter @bennyavni