New York Times Editorial |  July 22, 2012

Sanctions Against Iran

Photo courtesy: wn.com

It is disappointing but not surprising that two days of negotiations this week failed to produce any real progress toward curbing Iran's nuclear program. Iran, always playing the angles, is still trying to figure out how much economic pain it is willing to accept to maintain its nuclear ambitions and what, if anything, it is willing to give up.

It is in the interest of the United States and its allies to keep talking, especially since a new round of sanctions are scheduled to go into effect. On June 28, the United States can start barring foreign banks doing oil-related business with the Central Bank of Iran from access to the American financial market. Starting on July 1, all members of the European Union will be prohibited from buying oil from Iran and insurance for ships that carry Iranian oil.

The meetings in Moscow were the third in a series involving Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. To avoid a collapse in talks, they agreed that lower-level experts will meet on July 3.

The goal has to be to shut down all of the program that gives Iran the capability to build a bomb. The United Nations Security Council ordered that all enrichment should be ended six years ago, but the major powers were right to start the talks with a more short-term goal: to stop the most dangerous kind of enrichment.

Negotiators offered fuel for a medical reactor and aircraft replacement parts if Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity — near bomb grade — send its stockpile out of the country for fabrication into fuel rods and shut the underground facility at Fordo where the 20 percent enrichment is taking place.

Iran hinted in Moscow that it might limit enrichment to below that level but wanted more relief from sanctions and for the major powers to declare that it has a right to enrich uranium. The major powers say Iran will have that right if it proves it is not building a weapon.

We don't know if any mix of diplomacy and sanctions will persuade Iran to give up its ambitions. But there is no quick military fix. Even a sustained air campaign would likely set Iran's nuclear program back only by a few years and would rally huge sympathy for Tehran both at home and abroad. The current international consensus for sanctions, and the punishments, would evaporate.

That hasn't stopped American politicians from both parties from posturing on the issue. Before the Moscow talks, 44 Republican and Democratic senators sent President Obama a letter demanding that he abandon negotiations if there were no Iranian concessions.

The critics neglect to mention that Iran's program grew significantly when George W. Bush was president and opportunities were lost to constrain it at a much lower level. No president has been as successful as Mr. Obama in rallying the major powers to impose sanctions with bite. These are the first serious nuclear talks in years, and there is still time to let them run.

Original article here.