An agreement to curb Iran’s development of nuclear weapons was not reached at the International Conference in Istanbul. The West came to the conference with no unified strategy or coherent goals because it seems confused about Iran’s intentions and strategy. Few asked why Iranian leaders are spending so much political capital on a nuclear arms program? Or why they are spending a significant proportion of their only reliable source of income on developing nuclear weapons, when they desperately need it to feed their population? Or why they are inviting painful economic sanctions by Europe and the U.S.? Above all, why would they risk a devastating attack to stop their nuclear project?

The answers to these questions would have revealed the nature of the  threat a nuclear-armed Iran poses, and what steps the West must take to counter it.