John F. Kerry’s senior foreign policy adviser, James P. Rubin, says that Kerry has a brilliant plan to deal with Iran’s mad dash to obtain nuclear weapons.

First, Kerry will defer to the judgment of the United Nations.

Second, he will somehow magically secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union.

And third … Kerry’s going to give Iran nuclear fuel.

Yes, really.

One of the findings of the 9/11 Commission concerns Iran and its alleged support for Al Qaeda. U.S.-Iranian policy has been in the deep freeze for 25 years. How is that going to change with Kerry?

John Kerry regards an Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism armed with nuclear weapons as unacceptable. He has a multiple-part strategy that is much more realistic than the Bush administration’s. One is to rejoin and work through the international legal framework on arms control. That will give greater force to the major powers if they have to deal with violators. Secondly, he has laid out, I think in the most comprehensive way in modern memory, a program to secure nuclear materials around the world—particularly in the former Soviet Union but also in the places where research reactors have existed that could be susceptible to proliferation. The point is to try to prevent Iran from ever getting this material surreptitiously. Thirdly, he has proposed that rather than letting the British, the French and the Germans do this themselves, that we together call the bluff of the Iranian government, which claims that its only need is energy. And we say to them: “Fine, we will provide you the fuel that you need if Russia fails to provide it.” Participating in such a diplomatic initiative makes it more likely to succeed.

UPDATE at 8/2/04 8:54:53 am:

Yes, Kerry really does mean he’ll send nuclear fuel to Iran, not “conventional fuel.” At his site, under “National Security,” this deranged plan is spelled out in detail: New Strategies To Defeat New Threats.

Iran claims that its nuclear program is only to meet its domestic energy needs. John Kerry’s proposal would call their bluff by organizing a group of states to offer Iran the nuclear fuel they need for peaceful purposes and take back the spent fuel so they cannot divert it to build a weapon. If Iran does not accept this offer, their true motivations will be clear.

Because, you know, their true motivations aren’t really clear yet.