Iran Nuclear Talks: The 5 Options for What Happens If They Fail

In an address to US Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized negotiations to end Iran’s nuclear program by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany as it “doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb; it paves Iran’s path to the bomb.” The negotiations are making “unprecedented progress,” writes Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former spokesman for Iran’s nuclear negotiating team and now a research scholar at Princeton University. “The nuclear talks prove that Iran is ready to comply with the NPT in full – and even go beyond it.” He lists possible outcomes should the deal fall through: an interim deal could be renewed with sanctions kept in place; a new interim deal could be introduced, with eased sanctions as supported by China, Europe and Russia even as Iran continues to develop its program; the US could pose unilateral sanctions; or the US could go to war, further destabilizing the Middle East, with little support from the international community. Politics weakens the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The deadline for a deal is March 31. – YaleGlobal