(War on the Rocks) Behnam Ben Taleblu - Last month, the P5+1 and Iran extended for four months the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), the interim nuclear deal that was agreed to in Geneva, as the parties continue to seek a comprehensive solution. Remarkably absent from the text of the JPOA, however, is a reference to the status of Iran's ballistic missile program. The omission of ballistic missiles from the current P5+1 negotiations runs contrary to numerous UN Security Council resolutions which deliberately target the missile program and those who seek to aid it. By not openly pursuing limits on Iran's ballistic missile progress - with a focus on design, payload, or range - negotiators risk sweeping these UN resolutions under the rug. Consequently, the West risks making the entire issue subject to Iran's interpretation. The writer is an Iran research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
2014-08-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive