Should Obama take credit for stopping Iran?
Now that the Israelis are (again) pushing back their estimates for when Iran will be capable of producing a nuclear weapon, the Obama administration is starting to take some credit:
Iranâ??s ability to produce a nuclear weapon has been delayed by sanctions, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said here on Monday, the strongest and most public claim by the Obama administration that its pressure campaign is hampering Iranâ??s nuclear ambitions.â??Iran has had technological problems that have made it slow down its timetable,â? Mrs. Clinton said a televised town-hall meeting at a university in this Persian Gulf emirate. â??The sanctions are working,â? she added. â??Their program, from our best estimate, has been slowed down."
To be sure, this isn't chest-thumping bravado, but outside of the administration supporters are also noting Iran's setbacks with approval.
It will be tempting, particularly toward the end of this year, for the administration to increasingly pat itself on the back regarding Iran, but that seems short-sighted. While the sanctions may well be hitting Iran where it hurts, Stuxnet appears to have done most of the heavy lifting - and the smart money is on Israeli paternity for that cyber worm. In a world without Stuxnet, would sanctions really have bumped Iran's program back three or four years? Not likely.
(AP Photo)
