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Negotiations on Iran Are Failing
(Ha'aretz) Emily B. Landau - The latest round of negotiations with Iran has ended in failure, with the two sides as far apart as ever. When Iran wants to develop a military nuclear capability, and the P5+1 wants to convince it to give that up, it makes little sense to try and search for common ground. Moreover, as far as confidence-building is concerned, the situation is not symmetrical: The crisis is a direct result of Iran cheating on its explicit nonproliferation commitment. It is Iran that broke the rules, not the P5+1. But with confidence-building so prominent in the P5+1 rhetoric, Iranian negotiators feel they can demand reciprocal assurances from the other side. Sanctions are punishment for Iran's defiance, and the only leverage the P5+1 have. Iran's demand that these sanctions be lifted as a "confidence-building measure" is ludicrous. Time is running out for the international community. Iran has built up its nuclear infrastructure and will continue to do so until a decision to move to nuclear weapons is unstoppable. Time works in Iran's favor as long as it can string the international community along, and ward off military action by convincing it that cooperation is just around the corner. If Obama is truly committed to stopping Iran, the lack of any reasonable prospect for a negotiated settlement after ten years of efforts should make it clear that the U.S. has no choice, and it's time for more forceful options. A limited, surgical strike to Iran's nuclear facilities would send a serious message, perhaps one that would bring them to the table looking for a deal. Military action is far from the preferred option, but it is beginning to look like the one that has a realistic prospect of compelling Iran to seriously consider changing course. The writer is a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.