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A Last Chance for a Deal with Iran on Nuclear Weapons?
(Washington Post) Editorial - If Tehran again refuses to make concessions, and continues to press ahead with uranium enrichment at a new underground facility, military action by Israel or the U.S. may become inevitable. Hardly anyone, however, thinks it likely that the U.S. and its partners will be able to strike a deal that ends the Iranian nuclear threat or satisfies UN resolutions on the issue. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appears firmly opposed to any lasting accord. The Obama administration has spelled out what it thinks is necessary: an Iranian agreement to cease its higher-level enrichment of uranium to the level of 20%; to export the 100 kg. of fuel already processed to that level; and to close down the new facility buried under a mountain near the city of Qom. A deal along those lines would offend Israel and many in Congress. Like them, we have taken the position that Iran should stop all enrichment, as required by the UN resolutions, in order to obtain sanctions relief. But Iranian compliance with the administration's terms could greatly reduce tensions, and it could prevent the program from moving into what Israel describes as a "zone of immunity," in which it could be invulnerable to a conventional Israeli air attack. The risk is that it would be counterproductive in the medium term, because it would ease what is now mounting economic pressure on Iran and allow the regime breathing space. It could leave the nuclear program in a stronger position than it was - with more centrifuges and enough low-enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs with further processing. If the regime refused a more comprehensive deal, or cheated, it might be difficult to restore sanctions that only now finally appear to be biting.