When Iranian nuclear physicist Ardeshir Hosseinpour was gassed to death in 2007, the finger of suspicion was immediately pointed at Israel. Now, his sister claims he was murdered by Iran s Revolutionary Guard (IRI) because he would not cooperate with its efforts to divert nuclear work from peaceful purposes to building an atomic bomb. If Mahboobeh Hosseinpour s account can be confirmed, it could affect the next round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany

Iran s efforts to supply Hamas with missiles and supporting technology has fuelled the current conflict and it would be unconscionable for Western leaders to ignore the blood on Tehran s hands to sign a (flawed) nuclear deal. Any final agreement with Iran should require that regime not only agree to stringent and verifiable controls on its nuclear development, but also end to its logistical support of terrorists in Gaza and elsewhere. Iran is likely to balk at such conditions, of course. But better no deal than one that effectively gives an international imprimatur to Iran s destructive role in the Middle East.