Negotiations with Iran are aimed at winning the Islamic Republic’s commitment not to obtain the necessary ingredients for the construction of a nuclear bomb. This objective is all fine and good, and there is much in the events of the last few months to suggest that a solid basis has begun for progress toward this desirable goal.

But if Iran does its part, opens its program to effective supervision and satisfies the international community of its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, will President Barack Obama's administration move beyond rhetorical support to implement the broader goal of a nuclear weapons-free Middle East? Here, the picture becomes distinctly unclear.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee noted in in its surprising award to the new US president on Oct. 9, 2009, Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The committee stressed that it “attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.”

But when Obama’s State Department representative was asked whether Secretary of State John Kerry “believe[s] in the goal of a nuclear weapons-free Middle East?” the evasive response was a pale shadow of the Nobel committees’ thundering endorsement.