New negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program

What happened

President Obama tentatively opened the door to improved U.S.-Iranian relations and a new round of nuclear talks this week, but cautioned that he remained prepared to use military force to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb. The president told the United Nations General Assembly that he would respond to overtures by the recently elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—a moderate who has struck a softer tone than his firebrand predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Obama said he was encouraged by Rouhani’s pledge that Iran would never build nuclear weapons, but said the Iranian leader’s “conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable.” He instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to begin negotiations with his Iranian counterpart over Tehran’s nuclear program. “The roadblocks may prove to be too great, but I firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested,” Obama said.

A few hours later, Rouhani told the General Assembly that Iran was ready to enter “without delay” into talks over its nuclear program, which he insisted was solely for peaceful purposes. But he declined a White House offer to shake hands with Obama in a pre-arranged, “chance” meeting, apparently out of concern over how that would be viewed by hard-liners at home. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the U.S. not to be fooled by Rouhani’s overtures, saying the Iranian regime wants to “talk and play for time in order to advance its ability to achieve nuclear weapons.”

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What the editorials said

This time, Iran might be serious about nuclear negotiations, said the Chicago Tribune. Economic sanctions have caused the country’s oil revenues to plummet and inflation to soar. “Joblessness has hit young Iranians particularly hard, and they are restless.” The regime knows that if it can’t persuade the international community to loosen the punishing embargo, it could soon face an Arab Spring–like revolt.

The mullahs are only willing to talk “because they see an America in retreat,” said The Wall Street Journal. They watched with glee as Obama refused to act on his own chemical weapons red line in Syria, accepting a phony Russian diplomatic offer rather than using military force. They’re now hoping “an eager President Obama will ease sanctions in return for another promise of WMD disarmament,” even if Tehran retains the ability to build a nuke at just a few months’ notice.

What the columnists said

This could be the start of a major breakthrough, said John Judis in NewRepublic.com. A rapprochement between Obama and Rouhani could make a political settlement in Syria a real possibility and ease negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Without the threat of a nuclear Iran, “Israel’s hard-liners would no longer have an excuse for ignoring the West Bank occupation.” Hamas, meanwhile, could be pressured by its sponsor Iran to accept a two-state solution.

You’re living in a dream world, said Max Boot in CommentaryMagazine.com. It’s Iran’s Supreme Leader, not Rouhani, who will make a final decision on any deal. And no one could mistake Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “for a born-again moderate.” Just this week, a regime insider told The New York Times that Khamenei will never compromise his basic belief that Iran has a “right” to control its own nuclear program. Indeed, that program is vital to his regime’s survival, said Jeffrey Goldberg in Bloomberg.com. Khamenei has seen what happens to Middle Eastern leaders without a nuclear deterrent—Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Qaddafi—and doesn’t “want to share their fate.”

But Obama has no choice but to try to make the best of this diplomatic opening, said Kenneth Pollack in NewRepublic.com. If it fails, and the U.S. uses airstrikes to destroy the regime’s nuclear facilities, we will pay a very steep price. Iran will certainly retaliate, and it has ample means to do so: firing missiles at U.S. bases in the Middle East, ordering allies like Hezbollah and Hamas to attack Israel, and sending its highly trained proxies to engage in a wave of terrorist attacks on American soil. We must seize this chance to peacefully resolve one of the greatest problems facing the U.S. and the Middle East. “We may not have another.”