US Ready To Ease Preconditions On Iran

The US is set to drop a key precondition for continued nuclear negotiations with Iran, Obama Administration officials are hinting. The US has long insisted that it will not conduct diplomatic discussions with Iran unless Tehran shuts down its nuclear facilities during the early stages of discussions.

With Tehran recently announcing that it has installed 7,000 centrifuges in its Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the precondition would appear to be without teeth anyway.

As the Administration debuts its new-sheriff-in-town routine with Western Europe and Turkey, Tehran and Pyongyang continue work on their nuclear ambitions unimpressed. As years of useless UN sanctions and resolutions will attest, carrot-and-stick diplomacy won’t go very far. And if we are not willing or unable to go on the offensive, we may at least want to reconsider our position on the defensive…