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Don't Tear Up the Iran Deal, Make It Better

(USA Today) Amos Yadlin and Avner Golov - The Iran nuclear deal is highly flawed, but it would be foolhardy for America to scuttle it now. During its first seven years the deal delivers a period of significant constraints over Iran's nuclear program along with tight inspections and monitoring. That makes those first seven years an opportune time to address the deal's flaws. The U.S. should put into place partnerships and plans to deter any Iranian effort to race toward nuclear weaponry once the constraints on its nuclear program start waning. To restore American deterrence, the new president should make two positions clear. First, the U.S. is willing to reimpose economic sanctions in the event of Iranian noncompliance. Second, it will not hesitate to use military force to prevent Iran from dashing for the bomb or from reducing its breakout time to a few months or even weeks after restrictions begin to wane. The U.S., working with the other powers and Israel, should also move to counter Iran's non-nuclear misbehavior. The U.S. should assertively react to attacks on U.S. forces in the region by Iran or its allies; thwart Iran's military assistance to terror organizations, including Hizbullah, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas; and enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits Iran from developing a ballistic missile program designed to carry nuclear weapons. Washington and Jerusalem should formulate a parallel agreement on the appropriate response to potential Iranian violations of the nuclear deal or any crossing of the new American red line. Their plan should provide Israel with the necessary legitimacy and capacity to act as a last resort in coordination with Washington to prevent a nuclear Iran. Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israeli military intelligence, heads Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, where Avner Golov is a research fellow.
2017-01-16 00:00:00
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