Now as one who has long since rejected the faith in diplomacy and sanctions, I never thought I would live to see the day when most members of the foreign policy establishment would come to admit that the carrot and stick approach would not and could not succeed in preventing Iran from getting the bomb.
Yet many theologians argue that the religious establishment should supervise the overall process of government but not become too much involved in day-to-day affairs.
"We all look forward to the earliest possible establishment of a sovereign Iraqi government but the start of the reconstruction cannot be delayed until that day, " he said.