I am nervous about the nuclear arms deal with Iran, but I am more nervous about no deal.

The status quo makes me anxious because sanctioning Iran without a well-defined way out almost guarantees that Iran will have a nuclear weapon sooner than later.

The evidence is clear. Iran has a well-protected reactor and centrifuges capable of creating enough enriched nuclear fuel to build a nuclear weapon in a few months.

The current economic sanctions have two significant side effects. First, they make the general population miserable and isolated. Second, they give the Iranian government the political capital to develop and possibly use a nuclear weapon.

Economic sanctions alone will result in an outcome different from what was intended. Economic sanctions speed up the development of a nuclear weapon – they don’t slow it down.

I believe that the nuclear deal is necessary, but I am still worried. The nuclear deal could make us too complacent, giving Iran the opportunity to advance its nuclear agenda.

The nuclear deal could weaken our resolve and make the policing of the deal difficult to impossible, again giving Iran the opportunity to advance its nuclear agenda.

We need to continually remind ourselves that this deal is only the beginning of a new cat-and-mouse game between Iran and the dealmakers. Only time will tell which side is the cat.

We need a deal with Iran, and we need the will and the resolve to enforce it.

Peter Konieczko

Scarborough