Weakness deserves no respect.
I still can't believe this administration hasn't tried to talk to Iran "behind the scenes". Challenging them publically that they WILL NOT be allowed to have nuclear weapons seems to have only stiffened their resolve.
During the cold war when Russia had thousands of nukes aimed at the U.S., our countries got together quietly and hammered out some tough negotiations that kept a truce.
If we didn't need oil from the Middle East it would be different, but we do. Talking tough to them behind the scenes would do a helluva lot more good than talking tough to them and about them on the world stage. Clearly, it isn't working. Just my opinion...