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Source: http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/why-nuclear-deal-iran-so-hard-9433
Why a Nuclear Deal with Iran Is So Hard
(National Interest) Michael Eisenstadt - Tehran hopes to use the Geneva negotiations to confirm (if not legitimize) its status as a nuclear threshold state. An infographic on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's website describes how the regime's ultimate decision-maker thinks about Iran's nuclear program, identifying a dozen major achievements of Iran's policy of "nuclear resistance." Ten of them describe how the nuclear program has contributed to Iran's independence and enhanced its power, prestige, and influence in the Muslim world and beyond. The infographic makes clear that the regime considers the nuclear program to be key to the country's future as a regional and aspiring great power. Its nuclear program has much more to do with Iran's place in the world, while nuclear negotiations are about the degree of nuclear latency (i.e., proximity to the bomb) the international community is willing to tolerate. The writer is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.