The problem with Iran: just how close are the Iranians to making a nuclear weapon, and can they be stopped?

• Author: Broad, William J.
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

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After decades of hostility between Iran and the United States, President Obama took office in January hoping to improve relations between the two countries. He sent a televised Persian New Year greeting to the Iranian people and invited Iran's government to participate in talks without any preconditions.

Despite these gestures, tensions between the two nations-largely over Iran's nuclear program-have escalated in the last few months. Just a few days after the revelation in September of a secret nuclear facility, Iran test-fired missiles with sufficient range to strike Israel, parts of Europe, and American military bases in the Persian Gulf.

In fact, news of the secret nuclear facility, outside the holy city of Qum, and the missile test, came just days before the U.S. and Iran held their first direct talks since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which left Iran under the control of an anti American regime.

"This is not the first time that Iran has concealed information about its nuclear program," President Obama said after the disclosure of the new facility.

"Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. But the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow."

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Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the country's refusal to allow complete access to its facilities has led the U.S., Europe, and the United Nations to conclude that weapons are what the program is really about. The Obama administration is working with U.S. allies and the U.N. to assemble a package of tougher economic sanctions against Iran, including a cutoff of foreign investment in its critical oil and gas industry.

The hope is that pressure on Iran's faltering economy will weaken its leadership--already under pressure after a disputed presidential election. Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, but enormous protests erupted amid widespread allegations of fraud. The Revolutionary Guards, who also run the country's missile program, led a violent crackdown against the protesters, which killed scores of people, many of them students.

It is believed that the secret nuclear plant outside Qum is intended for uranium enrichment-the process of turning raw uranium into reactor or bomb fuel. While it's only one part of the process of building a nuclear...