The framework agreement cuts off all potential paths to an Iranian nuclear weapon. A nuclear deal based on the provisions agreed to under last week’s framework would block every path Iran has to obtaining a nuclear weapon through an exceptionally intrusive regime of restrictions and monitoring. Weapons grade plutonium or uranium are necessary to make a nuclear bomb.

: “It may be the biggest foreign policy bet of Barack Obama’s presidency. It is also a sensible step forward for Iran and the west . . . This tentative progress is testament to the power of diplomacy. President Obama and John Kerry, his secretary of state, deserve credit for persisting with negotiations despite trenchant opposition from some quarters in Congress.”