THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL PAVES IRAN'S PATH TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND FINANCES EVIL
United Against a Nuclear Iran, a very respected bi-partisan group of foreign policy experts expressed great concern about the Biden Administration's plans to provide sanctions relief and re-enter the Iran Nuclear Deal - JCPOA. The group is led by former Ambassador Mark Wallace and Democratic former senator and vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman. Their summary is posted below.
They conclude - quite rightly - that the only way to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons would be to continue the Trump Administration's maximum pressure campaign while insisting that the Islamic Republic be required to stop its enrichment (as was the international concensus before the Obama Administration's involvement) and dismantle its nuclear infrastructure (which John Kerry had stated was the purpose of eliminating sanctions).
Pursuant to the JCPOA's sunset provisions, all of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program will soon expire -- giving international legitimacy to Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Even the temporary restrictions are dubious given Iran's failure to come clean on the past military dimensions of its program and the far from perfect inspection and verification protocols.
They also expressed concern that providing sanctions relief would throw away the critical leverage necessary to compel Iran to reverse its dangerous course -- as well as enable the regime to finance (i) its terror proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and other Shi'ite militias -- and continue its campaign of murder, conquest and subjugation; (ii) its advanced conventional weaponry which it is now allowed to purchase pursuant to the JCPOA (the Trump Administration fought this tooth and nail); and (iii) its ballistic missile testing and development.
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The Iran Nuclear Deal: What's Wrong With It And What Can We Do Now?
The Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached on July 14, 2015 by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union (EU), and Iran. DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT Key Failings of the Iran Nuclear Deal:
The JCPOA does not confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program and provides a clear pathway to nuclear weapons.
Sunset Clause
The sunset provisions in the JCPOA mean restrictions on Iran's uranium-enrichment and plutonium reprocessing lift after 10 to 15 years. Iran is free to expand its nuclear program at that time to an industrial scale and introduce advanced centrifuges that can potentially reduce its "breakout" time - the time needed to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon - to a matter of weeks, if not days—"almost down to zero," according to President Obama.
The JCPOA therefore merely "rents" Iranian arms control for a limited and defined period, after which Iran will be permitted to have an industrial-scale nuclear program with no limitations on number and type of centrifuges, or on its stockpiles of fissile material, buttressed by the economic benefits obtained through sanctions easing.
Inspections, Verification and Potential Clandestine Parallel Program
The JCPOA does not require Iran to submit to "anytime, anywhere" International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of facilities and military sites where nuclear activities are suspected to have occurred. Iran, a serial cheater on its nuclear and other international obligations, can delay inspections of such facilities for up to 24 days, giving it significant time to hide evidence of covert nuclear activities.
Key questions remain concerning Iran's undeclared nuclear activities.
The JCPOA prematurely and irresponsibly closed the IAEA probe into Iran's documented nuclear-weaponization efforts or the so-called Possible Military Dimensions (PMDs) of its nuclear program.
However, the IAEA concluded that Iran was actively designing a nuclear weapon through at least 2009. Iran's lack of cooperation with the IAEA probe makes it impossible to verify if Tehran has halted all such efforts.
Consequently, the international community has an incomplete picture of Iran's nuclear program making it impossible to establish a baseline to guide future inspections and verification.
Iran accepts temporary nuclear restrictions in exchange for front-loaded, permanent benefits.
Under the JCPOA, United Nations (U.N.) restrictions on Iran's ballistic-missile program expire eight years after Adoption Day (October 2023), while U.N. restrictions on the transfer of conventional weapons to or from Iran terminate after five years (October 2020).
In exchange for temporary restrictions on its nuclear program, Iran is receiving permanent benefits up-front.
U.N. sanctions and some E.U. sanctions have been lifted, enabling Iran to access previously frozen assets. Remaining EU sanctions will be lifted in less than 8 years.
Until the U.S. withdrawal in May 2018, the U.S. had ceased applying nuclear-related sanctions against foreign companies for doing business in Iran.
Since the JCPOA was implemented and prior to the U.S. withdrawal in May 2018, Iran had signed over $100 billion in contracts with foreign companies.
The deal emboldens and enriches an extremist anti-American terror state thereby furthering Iran's expansionist and destabilizing activities.
Regional Instability
The windfall of sanctions relief freed up tens of billions of dollars to finance Tehran's many destabilizing activities. Iran increased its military budget 145% over the course of President Rouhani's first term.
Iran continues to be the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, backing terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas, both of which have been responsible for the deaths of American citizens.
Iran has escalated its support to Syria's Assad dictatorship, which has killed hundreds of thousands during the Syrian civil war, enabling Assad to reverse key setbacks and turn the tide of war in his favor.
Iran sponsors the violent extremist groups destabilizing Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Bahrain.
Iran continues to take Americans and other Westerners hostage, detaining at least five Americans and six other Westerners since the nuclear deal was reached.
The Iranian regime brutally represses its own people and violates the human rights of ethnic, national, and religious minorities with impunity.
Iran has test-launched at least 16 ballistic missiles since the JCPOA was reached. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which implemented the deal, aided Iran's ballistic-missile program by replacing previous resolution language that said Iran "shall not" engage in ballistic-missile activities with weaker language that merely "calls upon" Iran not to test any ballistic missiles "designed to be nuclear capable."
Arms Race
The deal fails to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in the long term and weakens restrictions on Iran's ballistic-missile program and conventional-arms transfers. Consequently, Iran's regional adversaries, like Saudi Arabia, may race to counter Iran by getting their own nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and to enhance their conventional-arms capabilities.
Former Saudi Intelligence Minister Turki al-Faisal warned in 2015: "I've always said whatever comes out of these talks, we will want the same. So if Iran has the ability to enrich uranium to whatever level, it's not just Saudi Arabia that's going to ask for that. The whole world will be an open door to go that route without any inhibition." Thus, the chance of destabilizing regional competition and conflict has increased.