The negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 over Tehran's nuclear enrichment activities have failed to reach an agreement, and Iran is much closer to mastering the technology of nuclear weapons. Many factors precipitated this breakdown, including the West's inability to handle the Iranian psychology, the failure to pose severe enough punitive measures in case of Iran's defiance, and the misleading U.S. policy that gave Iran room to maneuver. There is need for a new strategy toward Iran consisting of three tracks of separate but interconnected negotiations: (1) focus on the negotiations on Iran's enrichment program and the economic incentive package; (2) concentrate on regional security and the consequences of continued Iranian defiance; and (3) address Iran's and the United States' grievances against each other. The U.S. must initiate all three tracks to avoid failure in negotiations that leave the West and Israel facing a nuclear Iran.

 

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This essay has been published in various forms by the following journals:

International Journal on World Peace
Vol. XXVI No. 1 March 2009

American Diplomacy
February, 2009

Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES)
Spring 2009