Berlin With President Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen UN sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the US needs to talk with Iran s rulers, the issue of Iran s nuclear program is heating up. Iranians, no surprise, are watching this debate with interest. They need to do more than watch.

Berlin 45 45 With President Bush in Europe getting EU leaders to agree to toughen UN sanctions against Iran, and with the ongoing debate between John McCain and Barack Obama about whether the US needs to talk with Iran s rulers, the issue of Iran s nuclear program is heating up. Iranians, no surprise, are watching this debate with interest.  They need to do more than watch.

Reprofiling is a euphemism for debt restructuring, which allows countries to borrow from existing creditors for longer periods and at lower interest rates than they would be able to do on the open market. Although it is far from clear how easily the IMF could hold the line against hard bargaining creditors, the new policy, if adopted, would toughen the Fund s approach to cases where it finds itself repeatedly throwing good money after bad.