Nuclear danger

Talks have resumed in Vienna, in a bid to discover whether the Iran nuclear deal can be salvaged. Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the original accord, arguing that it did not do enough to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and that the lifting of sanctions had enabled the regime to pour billions of dollars into fomenting terrorism. He was castigated for jeopardising peace in the Middle East and Joe Biden pledged to reconsider that decision.

But the big question, all along, has been whether the Iranian regime can be trusted. The country’s leaders have always insisted that their atomic programme is a peaceful endeavour. There are plenty of foreign policy experts in the West who have been prepared to take the mullahs at their word. Yet new comments from Fereydoun Abbasidavani, the former head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, suggest that Mr Trump was right to take a firmer line. Mr Abbasi-davani says that the country has created a “system” to develop an atomic weapon.

Iran has in recent years progressively withdrawn from its commitments not to enrich uranium beyond a certain level. It has also shown no sign of softening its support for murderous attacks on the West’s allies in the region, including Israel. It recently elected a hardline new president, Ebrahim Raisi, who is alleged to have been involved in the execution of protesters.

In short, this is a regime with genocidal intent that could be on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. World leaders should ask themselves a simple question: are yet more talks really the best way of preventing the mullahs from doing so?