What is next in Iran?

In the long run, a free Iran is the best hope for peace and security in the volatile Middle East. The Obama Administration should therefore not turn its back on the Iranian opposition in a vain effort to strike a deal with the regime. This would undermine not only American national interests but also American ideals. In the words of one Iranian dissident: "Obama claims to be like President Lincoln. Then he should uphold the principles of Lincoln."

The Administration should seek to rally international support for increased sanctions on Iran's renegade regime. European allies, in particular, could do a lot more to pressure Tehran to halt its repression of its own citizens and freeze its nuclear program. The Obama Administration should press its European and other allies to impose the same level of economic and travel sanctions that the United States has imposed on Iran.

If these sanctions do not dissuade Tehran from continuing on its present path, then Washington must prepare for a nuclear Iran. It should invest in missile defences against Iran's growing ballistic missile force and deploy missile defences to help protect its allies from that threat. The United States should mobilise an international coalition to contain and deter Iran while imposing rising economic, political, diplomatic, and possibly military costs on the regime for flouting its responsibilities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that Obama Administration officials must abandon wishful thinking and deal with Iran as it is, not as how they would like it to be.