(Times of Israel) Emily B. Landau - As we move to the Nov. 24 deadline for P5+1-Iran negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear deal, the issue of Iran's past weaponization activities is becoming critical. Iran's most recent stonewalling on the IAEA's outstanding questions regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's program was evident when Iran missed the Aug. 25 deadline for providing answers. The most important reason for insisting that Iran admit its past work on a military nuclear program is to dispense with Iran's narrative that it has "done no wrong" in the nuclear realm. Even though most officials and experts know that Iran has worked on a military program, the steadfast Iranian denial has effectively undercut the alternative P5+1 narrative, and has considerably weakened the hand of the international negotiators facing Iran. Iran's dogged narrative enables Russia to continue to insist that there is no evidence of military nuclear activity in Iran. Iran's narrative must be discredited, and the charade must end. If Iran was confronted with clear-cut evidence that it had worked on a military nuclear program for years, the case for taking a harsh international approach would gain considerable traction. The only way to get a good nuclear deal with Iran is by exposing the deception and applying massive pressure. The writer is head of the arms control program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University.
2014-09-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive