The travelling circus of Iranian and Western nuclear negotiators that has met in Baghdad, Istanbul and Moscow in the past two months folded its tents earlier this week as it became apparent that there was virtually no meeting of minds. The West wants Iran to halt its enrichment of uranium which it believes may be used to make a bomb and Iran says it has an inalienable right to continue with its programme for peaceful purposes. The difficulty was perhaps caught by the statement of Iran's chief negotiator that the West are facing a great test in obtaining the confidence of the Iranian people.
With the talks at a standstill the West will probably go ahead now with extended sanctions on Iran's oil sales and more intensive boycotts on Iranian banks. These are serious measures which could cripple the already weak Iranian economy and it is likely that Tehran will look for ways of responding.
Politically the failure of the diplomatic course favoured earlier in the year by President Obama will encourage Israel to argue that direct action needs to be taken against Iran's nuclear facilities before they can use their enriched uranium for weapons. Mr Obama has not ruled out the use of military force and may soon be faced with the agonising decision of whether to support Israeli action before the US presidential election in November.
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