If you believe the U.S. mainstream media, nuclear talks with Iran are pointless. And even if one were to posit that there was a point to conducting them, if only for diplomacys sake, there ultimately is no hope of finding a middle ground.
This view is widespread because U.S. negotiators, when talking with the press, try to manage expectations. Opponents of the Obama Administration then use those pessimistic news reports to argue the President should never have tried diplomacy with Iran.
Given this, you might be surprised to hear that the P-5 nuclear talks with Iran have already achieved something nobody expected: There is something the United States could propose that is both in its own national interest and likely to lead to a favorable immediate agreement.
The U.S. government could agree to ask Israel to submit to the same inspection regime as Iran provided that Iran agrees to key provisions ensuring that it cannot develop a nuclear weapon in under a year.
Israel might object to this but it would be hard to draw conclusions from the objection because Israel has already objected to any deal whatsoever. Inspections would not, however, affect Israels military stance in any way. And they might serve as a useful reminder of the countrys deterrent capability.
As far as U.S. interests are concerned, such an arrangement would greatly strengthen the U.S. position that all countries should sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (Iran has, but Israel has not) and permit IAEA inspections.
Such an agreement has four major strategic advantages for the United States:
1. It meets U.S. Secretary of State Kerrys requirement for providing a layer of security to Israel namely, keeping the so-called breakout time it takes Iran to enrich enough uranium to build a bomb to at least a year.
Mind you, Iran will always be able to race to produce nuclear weapons. But by limiting its labs to about half the centrifuges currently in use 4,500 vs. 10,000 Iran would essentially agree not to be able to surprise anyone. That is the most anyone can hope to achieve diplomatically and strategically short of a regime change.
2. Twin nuclear inspections in Iran and Israel would eliminate the two main excuses cited by other powers in the region to start an arms race. One is that Israel should not be the only country that gets to ignore the rules and the other is the fear that Iran could go nuclear in secret.
See the rest here:
How to Succeed in Nuclear Talks With Iran