Christoph Bertram on Gently Nudging Iran to Play Ball
The United Nations approach to halting the Iranian nuclear program is a deepening hole that the Security Council and Germany should “stop digging,” says Christoph Bertram, the former director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin and a member of the Atlantic Initiative Advisory Board. Bertram notes that attempts at sanctioning Iran have heightened Tehran’s defiance and transformed the issue of uranium enrichment into a symbol of national sovereignty. Economic penalties may drive Iran to manipulate oil markets, and military engagement would devastate the credibility of diplomacy. Bertram suggests instead to subject the Iranian program to verification and international inspection. Transparency, he argues, not sanctions, is the key to engaging Tehran.
