Worthy Read

Gary Sick provides his usual excellent analyst, dispelling alarmist claims of a "ticking-clock" where Iran is fast approaching the nuclear bomb threshold. Rather than sanctions (or even a preemptive strike), he argues for a stronger monitoring system that would be more effective than the one currently used by the IAEA:

The real purpose of negotiations, in my view, is to build a system of monitoring and inspections that will (1) provide maximum early warning of a potential future Iranian decision to “break out” [from a peaceful nuclear power program to a weaponized one]; and (2) insure the maximum possible interval between that moment and the moment where Iran could actually have a bomb. Iran has said on several occasions that it is willing to accept such an enhanced inspection regime, but it will no doubt insist on a price. That, I think, is what the negotiations should be about.