While Western powers zealously pursue the talks to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, reports indicate the clerical regime’s rapid approach to enrich weapon-grade uranium, which is in line with its provocative nuclear activities.
On Tuesday, a report by Reuters confirmed that the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog is currently engaged in talks with Iran regarding the source of uranium particles that have been enriched to a purity of up to 83.7% at its Fordow enrichment facility. This level of enrichment is extremely close to what is required for the production of nuclear weapons.
According to CNN, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl stated on Tuesday that Tehran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb in just 12 days.
Kahl’s assessment offers a stark warning as Iran continues to breach the restrictions set out by the nuclear agreement, and efforts to restore the deal remain stalled. But how did Tehran manage to go this far?
The answer lies in the weak approach of Western signatories of 2015 Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal, dubbed by Tehran’s pundits as the “deal of the century,” imposed some restrictions on the regime’s nuclear program while presenting numerous concessions to Tehran.
Following the JCPOA’s signing, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), underlined that the deal fails to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. This soon became true when Tehran started breaching its commitments under the deal’s terms, namely the expansion of its ballistic missile program which was a clear violation of the UNSC 2231 Resolution. Contrary to the bogus claims of the regime’s pundits that the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA provoked Tehran to reduce its commitments gradually, the clerical regime never honored the nuclear deal.
#MaryamRajavi 2 FOX NEWS: #Iran should not be given the right of uranium enrichment, this is against 6 @UN Security Council resolutions
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) July 4, 2014
In a 2020 interview with Iran’s state TV, Ali Bagheri Kani, Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator and deputy Foreign Minister acknowledged how the regime used the nuclear talks to blackmail the west.
“When we started negotiating in 2003, Iran had no leverage. Thus, we accepted the suspension of uranium enrichment… Some people didn’t believe that the nuclear program is a power component, arguing that we are not seeking nuclear weapons… But sensitive and complex technologies have dual purposes. Only governments invest in such technology because it has a military dimension… We wanted the centrifuges to keep spinning so that the wheels of our economies could spin as well.”
On January 22, 2019, Ali Akbar Salehi, the former head of the regime’s Atomic Energy Organization, acknowledged that he lied and deceived other parties involved in the nuclear talks about the Arak nuclear plant and had hidden some of the prohibited equipment the regime had purchased.
In an interview with the state-run Iran daily on November 27, 2021, Fereydoun Abbasi, a parliament deputy and the former head of the regime’s Atomic Energy Organization, acknowledged that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the assassinated former head of the regime’s nuclear weapons project, had created a system to produce nuclear bombs.
While our restraint on nuclear weapons is clear from Khamenei’s explicit fatwa on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, Fakhrizadeh had created this system, and his concern was not only about defending our country. We are also backing the resistance front,” he said.
It is worth noting that the NCRI was the first to expose the regime’s nuclear activities in August 2002, as well as Mohsen Farkhrizadeh’s role and his organization “Defensive Innovation and Research Organization (SPAND),” a major expanded program with military component as its core mission.
Tehran has been dragging its feet with the negotiations. Rounds of futile talks have only bought time for the regime. Investing in any negotiations with Tehran on any significant issue is a fool’s errand.
The regime’s core vulnerability is its lack of legitimacy at home, leading it to rely on external sources of power. Human rights abuses, terrorism, and nuclear weapons are vital for Tehran, as it lacks a popular base domestically. These strategic orientations are essential for the regime, which is sailing too close to the wind.
The Western governments’ negligent and appeasing approach towards the Iranian regime’s provocative actions has allowed Tehran to pursue its nuclear ambitions persistently. This lack of action and disregard for the regime’s intentions has given the mullahs in Iran the green light to put global security at risk. In retrospect, the West’s policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany in the 1930s led to catastrophic consequences. Neville Chamberlain’s belief that appeasement would bring peace in his time was proven wrong as Hitler’s aggression grew bolder.
The international community must learn from history and take a tougher stance on the clerical regime’s nuclear program before it’s too late. The “peace in our time” approach has been a failed policy, and it’s time for Western powers to adopt a more proactive and assertive approach toward the Iranian regime.
