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Will Iran Crack?
(Los Angeles Times) Meghan L. O'Sullivan - The latest Iran sanctions came into full effect this week. Will increased sanctions compel Tehran to make real concessions and allow for a diplomatic solution to the standoff? The real test of sanctions is not whether they create economic hardship, but whether they induce a change in the behavior of Tehran's leaders. At the negotiations in Moscow, the Iranians demanded recognition of their right to enrich. This tough stance hardly indicates they perceived themselves to be under the sword of Damocles. Instead, it suggests that Tehran had decided to weather any and all economic pressure, seeing it as an unwelcome but possibly necessary cost of pursuing its nuclear ambitions. The writer, an international affairs professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School, is a former deputy national security advisor.