The troubling Stuxnet effect

The nonproliferation movement is still celebrating the formal adoption of the nuclear deal between the US and Iran. And it should be.

But if anyone thinks that the Stuxnet virus, which damaged or destroyed critical components of Iran’s nuclear program in 2010, somehow prodded both sides to the negotiating table, that’s a mistake.

The Iran nuclear deal is a diplomatic success for the Obama administration – and there are strong reasons to believe that the Stuxnet virus, which damaged or destroyed part of Iran’s nuclear program, played an important role in delaying the Iranian enrichment efforts long enough for diplomats to reach a negotiated solution.

While the true impact of Stuxnet, and the larger “Olympic Games” campaign it was a part of, may have momentarily delayed the Iranian enrichment efforts, we won’t actually know whether this was meaningful until all the relevant documents are declassified. In the interim, we are coping with the Pandora’s Box of reciprocated evils unleashed by this first nation-state cyberattack.