When it comes to an agreement with Iran about its nuclear program, no deal is better than a bad deal. Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the news to President Obama this week that a deal was unlikely by the July 20 deadline agreed to at the beginning of talks last September — which no doubt disappointed his boss, who is desperate for some foreign policy success to point to. But unless Iran is willing to give up its program — and dismantle the uranium-enriching centrifuges it currently operates and destroy its existing stockpile of heavily enriched uranium — economic sanctions should not be lifted.

Unfortunately, the U.S. negotiating position has been far more conciliatory to the Iranians. We’ve virtually conceded Iran’s right to enrich uranium, with the caveat that we expect them to freeze their capabilities of producing weapons-grade nuclear material and will ensure their compliance through inspections. If they agree, we will lift the sanctions that have helped cripple the Iranian economy.