Lost in the fog of the U.S. war on Iran to prevent the emergence of a Persian nuclear bomb is any memory of America’s original interpretation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT: What is not prohibited is permitted.

Although the June memorandum of understanding that charts a pathway to a negotiated final agreement terminating the U.S.-Iran war makes no reference to the NPT, reaching a shared understanding on the end state with respect to Iran’s nuclear energy program will require a shared understanding of the NPT, as both the United States and Iran are parties to this treaty. Absent such an understanding, the U.S.-Iran war will continue, and it is quite possible the NPT will cease to exist — de facto if not de jure — collateral damage of the war.