{"id":238198,"date":"2021-04-18T10:40:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T15:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=238198"},"modified":"2023-01-27T14:14:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T13:14:47","slug":"iran-the-cause-of-iranian-regimes-increasingly-explicit-nuclear-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/nuclear\/iran-the-cause-of-iranian-regimes-increasingly-explicit-nuclear-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: The Cause Of Iranian Regime\u2019s Increasingly Explicit Nuclear Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iran's<\/p>\n

This past week, the Iranian regime announced that it was beginning work on the enrichment of uranium to 60 percent fissile purity. In service of that goal, said Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, \u201cAnother 1,000 centrifuges with 50 percent more capacity will be added to the existing machines in Natanz.\u201d The announcement underscores that Tehran is at least continuing and more likely accelerating its violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action at the very same time its European negotiating partners are doing everything feasible to reestablish that 2015 nuclear deal.<\/p>\n

The threat of 60 percent enrichment is just the latest confirmation that Iran has not been taking negotiations seriously. Ever since the prospect of a US return to the JCPOA emerged, Iranian officials have been insisting that US sanctions must be lifted immediately and in their entirety, without regard for the status of Tehran\u2019s comprehensive violations<\/a> of the agreement.<\/p>\n

The US Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, said during her confirmation hearing, \u201cThe facts on the ground have changed, the geopolitics of the region has changed, and the way forward must similarly change.\u201d Such commentary is made more remarkable by the fact that Sherman led the American negotiating team when the JCPOA was taking shape under the Obama administration. If she recognizes the need for change, then Tehran cannot possibly hope to convince the world that there is greater value in the status quo. And yet, that is exactly what it has been trying to do, for the simple reason that the Iranian regime has no alternative.<\/p>\n

Of course, it would have plenty of opportunities if it had ever been willing to negotiate in good faith. But the regime\u2019s unwillingness to even take a small, lateral step away from its established position is a testament to the fact that the provisions of the JCPOA were the absolute maximum that Tehran would ever have been willing to accept. This is cause for alarm, considering that the US withdrawal from that agreement in May 2018 was supported by large swaths of commentators and policymakers, both inside the US and among its allies, particularly in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

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Iran: Fake News or Regime\u2019s New Tactic on its Nuclear Program<\/div><\/div>
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