The UN Security Council deadline for Iran to cease enriching uranium and return to negotiations passed last Wednesday without Iranian compliance. But there are heartening signs that the crisis may be resolved through peaceful negotiations. Lately there have been indications that more sober spirits may be prevailing in the constant arguments between pragmatists and hardliners in Tehran and Washington.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice emerged from a meeting last Friday in Berlin with the foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, and the EU to say they had agreed to “use available channels and the Security Council” to encourage Iran to return to the bargaining table. And top Iranian officials have professed a willingness to explore diplomatic solutions.

Lacking refinery capacity and needing to import gasoline, Iran has already been hit hard by the mildest of UN sanctions, combined with declining oil prices and US financial restrictions. At the same time, Bush’s strategic blunders have left him without any realistic military option against Iran. This symmetry of vulnerabilities can be a good thing if it leads to adoption of one of the proposed compromises — permitting Iran to develop peaceful nuclear energy but without having access to the highly enriched uranium.