Tick tock: Iran races the clock

Love, as the song goes, is in the air. If the latest media reports are accurate, the United States and the Iranian regime are rapidly closing in on a deal over the mullahs’ nuclear ambitions.

Admittedly, the source of this nugget of hope was Joseph Cirincione—a former Capitol Hill operative who now serves as the president of the Ploughshares Fund, a liberal foreign policy think tank, having gotten there via the Center for American Progress, another think tank that serves as a reliable echo chamber for the Obama administration’s edicts, both foreign and domestic. So while there’s some reason to take this glowing optimism with a pinch of salt, given where it’s coming from, it’s worth paying attention to what Cirincione had to say.

“If we get a deal that is close to the terms the administration has set out, and I believe we will, it is going to be a very good deal,” Cirincione said.. “One that will surprise and please even many of the critics.”

That’s going to be one hell of a deal! I’m a critic, and I’m looking forward to being surprised and pleased.

Of course, the thing about a surprise is that you don’t want to ruin it by telling the gift recipient what is is that they’re about to unwrap. So here’s my guess at the outcome that will make us believe that Chanukah has come early.

Number one: Iran will sign an international agreement confirming its intent not to develop nuclear weapons. Iran will submit to a permanent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring regime. Not a single centrifuge will spin without IAEA inspectors knowing about it. The IAEA can enter Iranian nuclear facilities at will, without having to make prior arrangements, and will immediately share intelligence and information with Iran’s neighbors and with U.N. Security Council. Any Iranian nuclear official engaged in suspect activity will be fired on the spot. In essence, Iran’s civilian nuclear program—if it must have one—will be under international trusteeship, and no enrichment activities that could result in weaponization will be permitted.