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Possible Deals with Iran
(Wall Street Journal) Amos Yadlin and Avner Golov - If the West is considering striking a deal in which Iran would agree not to continue to enrich to 20% or agree not to install new centrifuges, maintaining current economic sanctions on Iran is critical. Sanctions are the very leverage that could be used to elicit a reasonable or even good deal at the end of the process. Only after Iran proves its resolve to abandon all the key elements in its military nuclear program should sanctions be lifted, and not a moment before. According to several reports, the basic outline of the Iranian proposal has Tehran offering to limit enrichment in exchange for the West easing up on sanctions. So far, it sounds like the worst kind of reciprocal agreement - one in which the West would be forced to give up on its key leverage. A bad deal or even a phased agreement would be a defeat. In dealing with Iran, this is the hour of truth for Western diplomacy. Gen. Yadlin is a former chief of Israeli defense intelligence and director of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, where Mr. Golov is a researcher.