‘Appeasement Won’t Reduce the Peril of a Nuclear Iran’

Tomorrow morning, more than seven years after the United Nations Security Council first ordered Iran to halt all aspects of its illicit nuclear programme, British and American diplomats – along with representatives of other global powers – will sit down with Iranian nuclear negotiators in Geneva to try, once again, to resolve this crisis. This could be a seminal moment in world history – for what we choose to do about Iran will have consequences for generations.

 

In the run-up to the negotiations, there has been much talk of a new spirit of détente between Iran and the West. The election of President Hassan Rouhani in June has been followed by a series of diplomatic overtures, including a meeting between the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and his Iranian counterpart. There have even been discussions about Britain and Iran reopening embassies in each other’s capitals.

 
We would all welcome a genuine agreement that ensured Iran would never be a threat to our security. But at such an extraordinarily important moment, it is vital that both the British and the American governments remain clear-eyed about the nature of that regime and its nuclear ambitions.