Iran has agreed to send a batch of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for more highly enriched fuel for its medical-research reactor. In essence, this would ensure that Iran wouldn’t be able to use this uranium to build a nuclear bomb. The deal is similar to one that Western nations, including the United States, had backed last October, and will likely temper support for more sanctions on Iran. Don’t get too excited, though: As foreign policy experts and diplomats explain, the agreement does little to solve the big-picture problems with Iran’s nuclear ambitions, as Iran still has a sizable stockpile of uranium that’s not included in the swap that it could continue to enrich and possibly weaponize. [NYT]
