After years of non-communication or miscommunication, the United States and Iran are in direct dialogue over Iran’s nuclear program. This is a great beginning, but will the engagement lead to a settlement? There are the idealists who see the deal all but done, the defeatists who see no chance for a breakthrough, and the realists who see the development as a historic opportunity that is constrained by serious challenges on both sides.

More significantly, there are the supporters and the detractors. While the latter remain dominant in both sides, they are increasingly becoming defensive given their lack of a better alternative to a diplomatic solution to the protracted conflict. The fact is, more western sanctions and threats of force have resulted in more Iranian centrifuges and enriched uranium at progressively higher grades. The detractors have indeed disserved themselves by standing against diplomacy.