June 3 — Politicians in Europe have basically ignored all valid criticism of their policy on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, beginning during the negotiations for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and continuing right through until today, when it has become abundantly clear that Iran is continuing to pursue nuclear weapons.
Even after the US pulled out of the deal in 2018 and Iran began to openly violate the deal by revealing advancements that should have been impossible if they’d been keeping to their side of the agreement. After all, it took almost no time to increase uranium enrichment to 4.5%, then 20%, and then 63%.
Its current level makes that step even shorter and raises serious questions about what Iran’s “breakout period” for a nuclear weapon really is. Those questions will not be resolved by a simple return to the status quo as it existed before the US withdrawal and the retaliatory Iranian provocations. Yet that continues to be the sole, short-sighted goal of European negotiators who are continuing to hold direct talks with Iranian counterparts in Vienna.
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi who, despite being one of those responsible for keeping the JCPOA alive since 2018, said in May that it was “not possible” to return to the deal and that a new agreement would need to address Iran’s recent nuclear advancements and consistent refusal to cooperate. Grossi warned that the regime’s obstruction to the IAEA shouldn’t be written off.
Non-cooperation has been on display practically since the start of JCPOA implementation when suspicion fell upon a military site for hosting undisclosed work in the nuclear field. Two other sites were later identified as well, and the IAEA was ultimately able to confirm the presence of nuclear material at all three of them. However, this happened only after Iranian authorities denied inspectors access for months at a time while systematically destroying buildings and sanitizing the sites as a whole.
Especially after Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi threatened the West at the beginning of this year that Iran may obtain nukes if they feel pushed by the West’s sanctions, Europe should stop attempting to persuade Iran to abide by the deal with additional concessions. The Iranian regime should instead be compelled to accept new demands.
