The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 7 n May 31, 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a press conference to announce that the United States would be open to joining the European Union Three (the U.K., France and Germany) in negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. This statement represented a shift away from Washington’s narrower attempts to pressure and isolate Iran, and increased the chances for a peaceful solution to the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. F O C U S O N I R A N G RASPING THE N ETTLE : I F D IPLOMACY F AILS IN I RAN S HOULD DIPLOMACY FAIL TO DEAL WITH THE THREAT OF A NUCLEAR I RAN , POLICYMAKERS WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN PREVENTIVE WAR AND DETERRENCE . B Y J USTIN L OGAN O Julia Vaskar