Now that the Obama administration has dispensed with the bother of negotiating joint communiqués, every agreement the U.S. comes to will be followed by a period of head-scratching in which people try to figure out exactly what was agreed to. Hence, the search for the person who can definitively explain what was agreed to in Switzerland is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, there seems to be a consensus that Obama agreed to let Iran keep doing nuclear research and development. If this means that the U.S. will no longer engage in covert activities to disrupt Iran’s nuclear R&D, I hope the government of Iran knows that this agreement on the part of the United States is worthless, and will almost certainly be ignored by whoever is the next president, Democrat or Republican.

Covert U.S. and Israeli operations to disrupt Iran’s nuclear R&D are among the chief reasons that Iran doesn’t already have nuclear weapons. Not surprisingly, the Israelis are asking for this element of the agreement to be revised. They needn’t bother. Iran’s nuclear scientists should know that Obama’s promises will not protect them from us for long, and won’t protect them from the Israelis at all.