Iran Has Chosen Defiance Over Compliance

[Washington Times] Jeremy Issacharoff - Each day, the incessant hum of several thousand centrifuges enriching uranium in Natanz brings Iran closer to a military nuclear capability. A military nuclear capability underwriting Iran's support of terror in the region will threaten moderate Arab countries and enable Iran to project its power in a more dangerous way as well as expand its footprint in the region. Emblematic of this growing footprint has been Iran's substantial assistance to Hamas and Hizbullah, both of which have fired thousands of rockets at Israel. All international action should flow from the principle that Iran cannot be allowed to develop and acquire a nuclear-weapons capability. Merely enhancing incentives will not entice Iran to give up its nuclear program. Pressure must be intensified as a preamble to any renewed engagement with Iran. The absence of such pressure thus far is the reason Iran has chosen defiance over compliance. The writer is deputy chief of mission for the Embassy of Israel in Washington.


2009-02-11 06:00:00

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