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Israeli Policy toward Renewed Negotiations with Iran

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Major (res.) Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz - Any attempt by a new U.S. administration to start fresh negotiations on the nuclear deal will face significant obstacles. Tehran's current political climate is not as amenable to a deal like the JCPOA as it once was. After incidents like the assassination of Qassem Souleimani, Iranian officials' already limited trust in the U.S. has significantly eroded. Moreover, conservative-moderate political forces like President Rouhani that made the deal possible have waned in power. Israel's presence, at least behind the scenes, is necessary to make sure that any future agreement is in some accordance with its requirements and needs. Israel must insist on a number of fundamental and realistic principles, primarily a significant extension of the nuclear agreement conditions, the continued existence of an intrusive inspection regime, and especially a dramatic limitation of Iran's research and development (R&D) capabilities in the nuclear field, to block the development of advanced centrifuges that will greatly facilitate Iran's ability to conceal enrichment from international supervision in the future. If Israel works with the future Biden administration, it may be able to avoid a worst-case scenario in which its greatest ally forms a deal with one of its greatest enemies that harms Israeli interests severely. The writer, a senior research fellow at the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at IDC Herzliya in Israel, served for 25 years in Israeli defense intelligence.
2020-11-26 00:00:00
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