Containment cannot solve Iran crisis

Teheran would return to landmark 2015 nuclear agreement for $15b in oil sales

WASHINGTON - As tension continues to escalate between Washington and Teheran, the two sides are closer to a military conflict than any other time in recent years, a sanctions expert in the United States has said.

The crisis, which was precipitated by the current US administration, should be addressed diplomatically rather than through containment, Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at New York's Columbia University, said recently in an e-mail interview.