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Ignoring Iran's Past Deceptions Dooms Nuclear Deal

(The Tower) Emily B. Landau - Iran's secret work on the development of a nuclear bomb encapsulates the deceptive behavior that lost Iran the trust of the international community, and justified the demands that eventually culminated with the "Iran deal." The final report of the International Atomic Energy Agency on the possible military dimensions (PMD) of Iran's nuclear program - issued Dec. 2 - was shallow and inconclusive. Iran had not cooperated fully with the IAEA on the 12 outstanding questions that Tehran had been stonewalling on for years. So the report is a far cry from a full and final picture of Iran's military-related activities, but PMD is now off the agenda as far as implementation of the Iran deal is concerned. The IAEA report - however lukewarm - does break Iran's narrative of having done no wrong in the nuclear realm. The report assesses that Iran did conduct a "range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device...prior to the end of 2003 as a coordinated effort, and some activities took place after 2003." Iranian officials should no longer be allowed to spread their narrative of nuclear innocence without being firmly challenged. Iran actually has done wrong in the nuclear realm by working on a military nuclear capability for decades. The writer is Head of the Arms Control Program at the Institute for National Security Studies.
2015-12-08 00:00:00
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