It added: "The history of concealment of Iran's nuclear activities referred to in the Director General's report, the nature of these activities, issues brought to light in the course of the Agency's  verification of declarations made by Iran since September 2002 and the resulting absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes have given rise to questions that are within the competence of the Security Council."

Consequently, six Chapter VII UN Security Council resolutions have been passed since July 2006 (1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835 and 1929), which order Iran to suspend all enrichment-related activities. There is no ambiguity. Resolution 1696 demands that "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA." This step was unanimously and repeatedly endorsed by the international community. That an interim deal with Iran would trample all over it speaks volumes about the resolve of the US to hold its ground vis-à-vis a smiling Iranian regime.

As if this were not enough, there are other reasons, beyond suspension demands by the UN, for the right to enrich to be permanently denied to Iran. It has failed to ratify and implement the Additional Protocol to the Safeguards' Agreement — additional verification and transparency procedures that would enable the international community to exert a higher level of scrutiny over the country's nuclear activities. Given Iran's past violations, only enhanced verification can re-establish trust over time. Iranian demurral strengthens legitimate suspicions about its noncompliance.

Finally, Iran refuses to apply the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements to IAEA Safeguards' Agreements. This norm, which the IAEA considers applicable to Iran, requires all NPT signatories to notify the IAEA of any new nuclear facility before building work begins. Iran has repeatedly violated this rule. All its enrichment activities are thus in violation of the NPT, regardless of whether it has a right, in theory, to enrich uranium.

Iran's continuing non-compliance and history of obfuscation about the nature and extent of its nuclear activities provide no legal ground for the recognition of a right to enrich as part of any future agreement. It is a pity that President Obama thinks he can trust Iran to keep its enrichment capabilities in the final scheme of things.

Supporters of a deal with Iran tirelessly insist that a military strike would only temporarily offset Iran's march to nuclear weapons. But a deal that grants Iran the right to enrich achieves the same — its impact will only be to delay a nuclear-armed Iran, not forever prevent its occurrence.