Can Iran's Bomb Be Stopped? - Giora Eiland
Israel's Military Option
Washington finally made the offer Tehran has been waiting to hear since 2006: to negotiate a peaceful halt to Iran’s nuclear program without any preconditions. In 2006, Iran was willing to temporarily freeze uranium enrichment for direct negotiation with the United States, since negotiations would have awarded the regime a great deal of legitimacy. Two years prior to that, in 2004, Iran had not dared to enrich uranium and had shelved its military plan.
Today, the opening conditions are different. Washington courts Tehran while Iran declares its readiness to talk about any important strategic topic with the United States separately and with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and Germany). Nevertheless, it does not consider ‘‘its natural right to develop nuclear energy’’ a topic worthy of discussion and certainly is not ready to freeze any activity during the talks.
How did this erosion happen? When did Iran acquiring or not acquiring nuclear weapons capability depend more on a political decision rather than overcoming a technical challenge? Is there still a real chance to block Iran? And is the United States ready to take the right measures and risks to prevent a very dangerous situation—a Middle East under an Iranian nuclear umbrella?
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