Episode 44 – How can Biden call Putin a war criminal for his aggression in Ukraine while subcontracting his signature foreign policy – cutting a deal that makes Iran a nuclear state and regional hegemon – to Putin? For answers to this key question, in this week’s Middle East News Hour I spoke to Mideast scholar Tony Badran from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Last week Tony published an important article on this topic in Tablet online magazine. Towards the end of our discussion we moved from the administration’s policy of empowering Iran to its policy of pretending that Hezbollah is not in charge in Lebanon.