iran's exports and imports. with 60% of iran's economy coming from oil special reporex would bring it to a standstill. the nuclear spring making progress. this is inevitable. nuclear technology is 70 years old. iran has a serious scientific and technological community. and it does see the nuclear program as an emblem of national security and pde. but do we think of north korea as strong and on the rise because it has a few crude nuclear weapons? the obama administration seem to have concluded that the iranian regime is not ready or able to make a strategic reconciliation with the west. the regime is too divided and khomeini, the ultimate authority, supreme leader, is too ideologically rigid. for now, washington wants to build pressure on iran in the hope that this will force the regime into serious negotiations at some point. the strategy is understandable, but it also risks building up pressures that could take a