The rush of the Obama administration to clinch a nuclear deal with Iran presents an unedifying spectacle. So intense is the American president’s desire to notch up a foreign policy success that he is tempted to accept a formula allowing Iran to continue its clandestine progress towards a nuclear bomb. It is a temptation he must resist.

Failure to strike an accord today, say Mr Obama’s advisers, might increase the risk of strategic instability. Striking a bad deal would however be far worse, both reckless and dangerous. It would promote an unapologetic sponsor of terrorism into the role of a major regional power.

Mr Obama is in a hurry because of the recent realignment of politics in Washington. As long as the Democrats were in control of the Senate, it was possible to delay any further sanctions against Iran from coming to the vote. That opened up a window for prolonged negotiations with Tehran. Following the mid-term elections, that protection is no longer on offer to the president.

As a result Iran’s negotiators have been turned into accomplices; creating the illusion of a mutually satisfying deal has become a joint purpose of the Iranian and American presidents. Mr Obama has been twisting and turning to ease President Hassan Rouhani’s problems with his hardliners.

Read the editorial in full at the Times.