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The Iran Deal May Still Be Dead

(Wall Street Journal) Blaise Misztal and Jonathan Ruhe - Many assumed Tehran would rejoin some version of the nuclear deal (JCPOA), driven by a desire for economic benefits. Yet getting back into the original agreement was never going to be easy. Iran's nuclear program has advanced much further than the JCPOA accounted for. The original deal has no provisions regarding Iran's extra enrichment and centrifuge manufacturing facilities, nor the irreversible know-how Iranian scientists have gathered from operating advanced centrifuges in violation of the deal. "Linear return to 2015 is no longer possible," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned last month. Meanwhile, Iran's vital banking and energy sectors, as well as its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, would remain blacklisted for ties to terrorism even if Washington lifts all the JCPOA's nuclear-related sanctions. This U.S. position is irreconcilable with Iran's demand for total economic relief before rolling back its nuclear breaches. Given its diminishing presence in the region, America should also make clear that it backs Israel if it takes military action in self-defense against Iran. Since July 2020, Israel's covert strikes have taken thousands of centrifuges off line and set back Tehran's mass-production of advanced centrifuges, delaying its breakout time. Blaise Misztal is vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, where Jonathan Ruhe is director of foreign policy.
2021-07-01 00:00:00
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