World powers, all too fearful of the ramifications of an outright collapse of talks with Iran [1] on its nuclear program, on Tuesday decided to mark an inability to reach even a minimal agreement with Iran by scheduling another round of discussions for sometime next month.

But the case of diplomatically kicking the can down the road seemed unlikely to mask the bleak prospects for compromise with Iran on its nuclear ambitions – and that reality appears certain to agitate world oil markets, speed up the clock ticking on yet another military confrontation in the Middle East [2], and become a major factor in the US [3] presidential campaign.

Opponents of further negotiations with Iran are likely to cite Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton [4], who has repeatedly warned the Iranians... >>>