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Has Iran Complied with the Nuclear Deal?

(Times of Israel) Emily B. Landau - Supporters of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) note that according to the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has been entirely compliant with its commitments. But how compliant has Iran really been? Evidence shows that Iran has hardly been fully compliant with serious nuclear-related issues. A recent report of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, headed by former nuclear weapons inspector David Albright, has concluded that the underground and heavily fortified uranium enrichment facility at Fordow has not been reconfigured as stipulated by the JCPOA. The IAEA found traces of radioactive material from soil samples that were taken from a nuclear warehouse in Tehran in April 2019. This warehouse was revealed by Prime Minister Netanyahu in his September 2018 speech to the UN. Incriminating evidence of radioactive material being stored there up until 2018 is clearly a post-JCPOA violation. Several reports from German intelligence services over the past few years involve Iran's continued efforts to procure equipment and materials that can be used in a nuclear weapons program. The efforts were thwarted, but it is not clear why these ongoing Iranian efforts are continuing. Iran has admitted to lying about the facility at Arak. The Arak heavy water reactor was supposed to be rendered inoperable, according to the terms of the JCPOA, by pouring cement into its core. In the end, cement was poured only into the surrounding piping. But the Iranians had already purchased new piping before the JCPOA - piping that they can now install. The picture of Iran as the innocent party complying with the JCPOA is thus clearly inaccurate. The current tensions are not due to the U.S. leaving the deal, but rather to the serious flaws in the deal that led the U.S. to withdraw, as well as Iran's non-cooperative and bad faith behavior that has continued since that time. The writer heads the arms control program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University.
2019-07-23 00:00:00
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