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Minimum Requirements for a Negotiated Ceasefire with Iran

(JNS) Gerald M. Steinberg - In recent history, total victory is increasingly rare, and most wars end through negotiated ceasefires. In the war between Iran and Israel, occupation is not a realistic option. At this stage, as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly declared, the war will not end until all of Iran's missile and nuclear facilities are destroyed. All of the major facilities in Tehran's nuclear program were acquired and operated through deception under the facade of a "civilian" program. For 25 years, Iran used a range of excuses to prevent inspections and interfered with the safeguards required by the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but the "international community," particularly the European governments and the UN, failed to uphold these requirements. Another core requirement for any negotiations would be direct talks with Israel. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the leadership has refused direct contact with Israelis. The negotiations that ended the 1973 war could serve as an important precedent. As U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger orchestrated the ceasefire negotiations, top generals from the two enemies met in the Sinai desert in the first official contact between the two countries. The writer is founder and president of NGO Monitor and professor emeritus of political studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2025-06-20 00:00:00
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