New hope for an Iran deal

A historic deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear program appeared within reach this week as Western negotiators resumed talks with the Islamic Republic in Geneva. An interim agreement was almost clinched two weeks earlier, when Iran reportedly agreed to partially freeze its nuclear program for six months in exchange for the easing of sanctions. But talks broke down after Tehran asserted its “right” to enrich uranium and France insisted that construction be halted at Iran’s heavy-water plant in Arak. This week, however, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that public acknowledgement of its right to enrich was not a “necessity,”and Western officials expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced support for a deal but warned that Iranians would “not step back one iota from our rights.” U.S. Senate leaders, meanwhile, agreed to delay a vote on new sanctions.

An interim deal with Tehran is a big mistake, said Dan Burton in The Washington Times. The mullahs will only “string us along again” while benefiting from the billions of dollars flowing back into their crippled economy as sanctions are eased. Let’s hope that hawkish senators deliver on their threat to impose sanctions until Iran agrees to a full freeze. “Appeasement does not work.”

Any sanctions relief can be reversed “if a deal is struck and Iran cheats on it,” said Shashank Joshi in Bloomberg.com. In the meantime, a short-term agreement could “double Iran’s so-called breakout time—the period Iran would need to enrich enough weapons-grade fuel for a bomb.” That could leave Iran further from a nuclear bomb in six months than it is today, and the mutual trust gained could put Iran and the West closer to a “comprehensive deal.”

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Beware of unforeseen circumstances, said Ilan Berman in USAToday.com. Until now, Israeli officials have been “willing to bide their time,” relying on Washington to pursue an aggressive sanctions strategy against Tehran. But warming relations between the U.S. and Iran have left the Israelis feeling isolated, pushing them toward the option of unilateral military action. The perception that the White House has gone “wobbly” on them “could well force the Israeli government’s hand.”