Kerry Sounds Sensible on Iran?!

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Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies shares this concern.”Refusing to insist that Iran shut its nuclear facilities, a position held by the Obama administration as of only 18 months ago, leaves a deal that is unstable and reversible and positions Tehran to use the North Korean playbook to a bomb,” he warns. “Extending breakout to a year is only helpful if the U.S. retains sufficient economic leverage to force Iran back into compliance when it cheats, reliable intelligence to detect a breakout or sneakout, and a willingness to use military force in response to an Iranian dash to weaponize uranium or separate plutonium for a bomb.”
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If a deal is not to be concluded by Nov. 24, it would be a mistake simply to extend the talks yet again and fork over another dollop of sanctions relief. Ideally, the administration should intensify by calling for additional sanctions. It is hard to believe the administration, which has seemed petrified of a break-off in talks would agree to that. However, with a new Congress comes new opportunities to up the ante on Iran and to lend support to allies to enhance the threat of military action. Moreover, it must make clear that only an end to Iran’s enrichment program can provide the West with the assurance it requires. Otherwise, as Dubowitz puts it, “If sanctions unravel, US intelligence continues its poor track record of detecting a country’s nuclear dash, and the administration continues to send a message that it is unwilling to use force (even bragging about how it stopped Israel from doing so), Iran will be well positioned to take multiple pathways to a bomb.”
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