The past month’s Israeli strikes, combined with a single American bombing mission, have undermined the essential purpose of Iran’s mullahcracy: destroying the Jewish state and its ally in Washington. Since then, the regime has been licking its wounds, trying to maintain its authority and reputation, and promoting the idea that its nuclear program was peaceful.

These pursuits are intended to strengthen the line that the Iranian regime would not be exceptionally dangerous if it gained nuclear status. Those in the West who believe this point to the nuclear states of North Korea and Pakistan and argue that we could manage Tehran ...