The Case for a Hard Line with the Iranians

I ran across this opinion piece in today's The Times (of London) regarding the upcoming direct talks between the United States and Iran.  The author, Rosemary Righter, whom I have not previously encountered, outlines a strategy for exploiting the chinks in the armour of the current Iranian regime.  I do not expect that anything she recommends will be taken up by the American negotiators dispatched by the Obama Administration, but one can dream.  I do not believe that a sit down with the Iranians is a good idea, particularly by this Administration, since Obama has already played his hand that appeasement will be his method of operation.  It is too bad that what little opportunity is created by such discussions will not be leveraged to any useful end.