by Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh
Iran’s ruling
clerics frequently complain, without evidence that the US is not complying with
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Tehran and
six world powers. Since Iran continues to receive significant sanctions relief
under the agreement, and is also conducting an increasing amount of business
with the West, what exactly are they complaining about, and why?
The accusations
that the US is not complying with the deal are part of a strategy that Tehran
has employed since the agreement was signed, and which has three major
objectives. The first is to coerce the agreement’s other signatories, by threats and tough language,
into continuing sanctions relief. The second is to divert attention from
Tehran’s own non-compliance with the nuclear agreement. The third is to project
a strength that does not exist by bolstering the pretense that Tehran is not desperate for the nuclear
agreement to remain in place.
The reality is
that Iran needs the nuclear agreement more than the West does. Tehran is
hemorrhaging billions of dollars on Bashar Assad in Syria and its Shiite
militia proxies there and elsewhere in the region. The continuation of sanctions relief under
the nuclear agreement is critical to Tehran.
The US has not
violated the nuclear agreement, as Iranian leaders claim. Washington’s
unilateral sanctions are a response to Tehran’s ballistic missile program. Since the nuclear
agreement was signed, Tehran has fired at least 10 ballistic missiles, some of
them into Syria, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. US
sanctions also targeted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the main
player in Iran’s
ballistic missile activities and the backbone of its support for terrorist
groups in the region. These sanctions have nothing to do with the nuclear
agreement, which was signed by several participants, not just Washington and
Tehran, and addressed
only Tehran’s nuclear program.
In fact, it is
Tehran that has breached the deal, and more than once. As US President Donald
Trump has pointed out: “They are not in compliance with the agreement and they
certainly are not in the spirit of the agreement, and I think you’ll see some very strong things
taking place if they don’t get themselves in compliance.”
The Iranian
government has not only defied the terms of the nuclear agreement, but has also
tried to bypass its restrictions. The Institute for Science and International Security reported that
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization had recently made an attempt to purchase tons
of controlled carbon fiber. “This raises concerns over whether Iran intends to
abide by its JCPOA commitments,” the institute said. “In particular, Iran may seek to stockpile the
carbon fiber so as to be able to build advanced centrifuge rotors far beyond
its current needs under the JCPOA, providing an advantage that would allow it
to quickly build an advanced centrifuge enrichment plant if it chose to leave or disregard the JCPOA
during the next few years.”
Tehran has also
twice exceeded the amount of heavy water it is permitted to hold under the
terms of the JCPOA. Heavy water is used for the development of nuclear weapons.
Another intelligence report, this
one from the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, states: “Regardless of the
number of national and international sanctions and embargoes, countries like
Iran, Pakistan and North Korea are making efforts to optimize technology... products and scientific
knowhow in the field of developing weapons of mass destruction as well missile
technology.”
Another state
intelligence report revealed: “German companies in Rhineland-Palatinate were
contacted in illegal procurement attempts by Pakistan, North Korea and Iran. The procurement
attempts involved goods that were subject to authorization and approval on
account of legal export restrictions and UN embargoes. These goods, for
example, could be used for a state’s nuclear and missile programs.”
Any expert who
has studied Iran’s nuclear file for over a decade knows it is filled with
clandestine nuclear activities and defiance of the International Atomic Energy
Agency. The nuclear agreement is simply another stage in Iran’s pursuit of
regional domination.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated, Iranian-American political
scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman
and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of
the Harvard International
Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East
Chamber for Commerce and Business. He can be reached on Twitter @Dr_Rafizadeh
originally
published in the arabnewsSource:WHAT IRAN REALLY WANTS FROM THE NUCLEAR DEAL
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