{"id":233972,"date":"2021-01-27T11:44:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T16:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=233972"},"modified":"2023-02-01T05:17:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T04:17:36","slug":"iran-did-the-maximum-pressure-weakened-the-jcpoa-or-rather-it-exposed-its-weaknesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/nuclear\/iran-did-the-maximum-pressure-weakened-the-jcpoa-or-rather-it-exposed-its-weaknesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Did the Maximum Pressure Weakened the JCPOA or Rather It Exposed Its Weaknesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iran-iaea-jcpoa-27012021\"<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, France\u2019s Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian spoke to the media about the ongoing deterioration of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and called for immediate action to halt and reverse Iranian regime\u2019s escalating violations. Among European officials, Le Drian has distinguished himself as one of the Iranian regime\u2019s most ardent critics, and yet even his appeals fall far short of what is needed in order to appropriately confront Tehran\u2019s malign activities.<\/p>\n

The French foreign minister seems less inclined to pull punches than some of his colleagues in describing the nature and status of Iran\u2019s provocations. Speaking to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, he emphasized the need for an imminent change because Iran is in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons capability. By resolving to \u201csay this clearly,\u201d Le Drian avoided the mistake of lending credibility to Tehran\u2019s denials and evasions.<\/p>\n

With its most recent violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran moved to begin work on the production of uranium metal, which has virtually no other purpose than to be used as part of the core of a nuclear explosive device. This and related developments have sparked a sense of urgency among Western policymakers. But even those who have given appropriate voice to that urgency, like Le Drian, have not used it to motivate appropriate policy demands.<\/p>\n

Instead, they have continued clinging to the notion that this issue can be resolved through ordinary negotiations, as if the failure of the JCPOA can be corrected by simply retreading the same ground. Le Drian\u2019s more pointed criticisms of Iranian actions have not prevented him from emulating his more guarded colleagues\u2019 practice of counter-balancing those criticisms with equivalent commentary aimed at the United States. In the same interview where he condemned Iran for moving toward nuclear capability, he also reiterated European opposition to the US maximum pressure campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration chose what it called the maximum pressure campaign on Iran. The result was that this strategy only increased the risk and the threat,\u201d Le Drian said<\/a>, implying that Tehran\u2019s violations were a necessary consequence of that campaign, and not the flawed JCPOA itself.<\/p>\n

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NCRI reveals: Iran\u2019s New Centers To Continue Nuclear Activities - October 16, 2020<\/div><\/div>
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