As the White House ponders its response to the attack on Tower 22, the U.S. military outpost in Jordan, the news from the Middle East could hardly be worse. From Gaza to the Red Sea and from Jordan to Iraq, a stream of unprovoked attacks by Iran and its proxies are driving President Biden into the greatest crisis of his presidency.

       This isn’t what the president or his top aides expected or hoped. In January 2021, Team Biden anticipated a quick agreement with Iran that would put Middle East tensions on ice while the U.S. focused on countering China’s rising power in the Indo-Pacific. But that was not what the mullahs wanted, and Iran, not the U.S., has controlled the pace and direction of Middle East politics since Mr. Biden took office.

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