Targeted for assassination by the Islamic Republic, a former national security adviser, John Bolton, says Iran’s nuclear file and its terrorism activities are “two sides of the same coin,” and that re-entering the 2015 nuclear deal would be a “self-inflicted wound.”

President Biden’s schizophrenic approach to Iran — negotiating with Tehran’s diplomats on one hand while exposing its misdeeds on the other — is on sharp display this week. 

The Justice Department today unsealed a warrant for the arrest of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shahram Poursafi, alleging an attempt to kill Mr. Bolton. That follows the Monday announcement by a European diplomat, Josep Borrell, that a “final” text has been offered to Iran for the renewal of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped by diplomatic means, Washington contends. It is fully backing Mr. Borrell’s efforts — aided by diplomats from Russia, no less — to renew the deal that President Trump nixed in 2018. 

“Iran’s nuclear-weapons and terrorist activities are two sides of the same coin,” Mr. Bolton said in a statement emailed to the Sun, adding that “no responsible U.S. government should think otherwise.” He said America “re-entering the failed 2015 Iran nuclear deal would be an unparalleled self-inflicted wound, to ourselves and our closest Middle East allies. I remain committed to making sure it does not happen.”

Today’s arrest warrant against the IRGC operative follows earlier reports that cited beefed up security for Mr. Bolton as well as for Secretary Pompeo and President Trump’s Iran point man, Brian Hook. The Islamic Republic has vowed to avenge the 2020 death of the IRGC commander, Qassam Soleimani, in an American drone strike. Tehran sees the three men as responsible for killing the arch terrorist. 

Killing former high-ranking Washington officials is far from the only item on the IRGC’s menu: Earlier this month, a man was charged on an allegation that he tried to assassinate an Iranian-American journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad, at her Brooklyn home.

Yet, brazen acts of terror on American soil — not to mention Terhan-backed terrorist activities in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian territories — have failed to deter the Biden adminsitration from pursuing diplomacy that could ultimately replenish the Iranian regime’s coffers with cash. 

For more than a year Tehran’s diplomats have added new demands to renew the nuclear deal: They called on the State Department to remove the IRGC from its terror list, and then tried to get an American assurance that the next president would not leave the deal. When such demands proved unrealistic, Terhan upped the ante with new ones. 

The latest is for the International Atomic Energy Agency to end an investigation into traces of man-made uranium the agency found at several Iranian sites. Iran failed to explain the presence of those traces. Tehran has been on a warpath with the nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, who said recently that unless Iran soon turns on at least 17 cameras that it had disconnected weeks ago, the agency could not reliably inspect its nuclear program. 

IAEA inspection is a cornerstone of the JCPOA. Yet, even after a year of saying that the pact must be renewed “within weeks,” Washington is yet to publicly posit any alternative approach to the stalled diplomacy. Never deterred, Mr. Borrell comes up with new, “final” texts, shuttling between Iranian and American diplomats, as Tehran refuses face-to-face negotiations. 

In addition to Mr. Borrell, Iran and America rely on the mediation of Moscow’s ambassador to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov. The Kremlin man’s chummy palaver with European and American counterparts stands in sharp contrast to Mr. Biden’s attempt to diplomatically and financially isolate Russia for its Ukraine invasion. 

Mr. Ulyanov’s diplomatic efforts on America’s behalf is happening even as the Russia-Iran alliance deepens. Officials in Washington announced today that Iranian pilots are training Russian counterparts on the use of drones. Hundreds of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that Iran is selling to Russia could significantly alter the Ukraine battlefield, allowing the Russians to achieve elusive air superiority. 

On Tuesday, Russia launched a satellite, named after the poet Omar Khayyam, for Iran’s exclusive use. Data beamed from the high-resolution satellite could add potency to Iran’s surface-to-surface missiles, its killer drones, and other offensive capabilities, a fellow at the think tank Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, Tal Inbar, told the Sun. Khayyam will present a major challenge to Israel, he added.  

As Mr. Biden’s Iran point man, Robert Malley, is begging Tehran to agree to a deal that would remove American- and European-mandated sanctions from the Islamic Republic, Iranian diplomats are playing coy while the IRGC continues to beef up its conventional and nuclear arsenal.

By allowing that farce to continue, Mr. Biden diverts attention from the regime’s ever-intensifying terrorist activities. Doing so with the aid of a declared foe, Russia, erases the distinction between America’s friends and enemies.