If past experience with authoritarian regimes is any guide, new sanctions on Iran will not succeed in curbing its nuclear power development and will, instead, strengthen the hardliners in government. Much more can be gained by improving the relationship between U.S. and Iranian citizens.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's despotic behavior is not in itself enough to initiate a war against Iran that may have tragic consequences for the region and for the whole world. Despite Ahmadinejad's rantings against Israel, Iranian leaders know that an attack against that country would be suicidal, unleashing terrible reprisals from Israel and the United States.
There is widespread suspicion that if Iran came to possess a nuclear bomb, it could initiate an arms race in the Middle East. However, what is now an open secret — Israel's possession of nuclear weapons — has not ignited such a race. Since threats of punitive action against Iran are not weakening its nuclear ambitions, it is time to try a different approach.