Middle East Notes and Comment: Iran on the Brink

November 15, 2004

In a series of increasingly urgent meetings over the last year, European diplomats have sought to steer Iran away from a confrontation over its nuclear program. Despite small successes, victory is unlikely. Distrust among all interested parties, combined with the Iranian leadership’s ambitions, suggest that it will be virtually impossible to dissuade Iran from developing a nuclear capability. The good news, if there is any, is that a nuclear Iran is likely to be less destabilizing than many think.