The JCPOA was designed to contain Iran’s nuclear weapons programme for at least a decade and enable regular monitoring and inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To encourage Iran maintain its nuclear containment commitments active steps were taken to circumvent the barriers to trade with Iran created by US sanctions. The problem with all of this is that the 2015 deal does not address Iran’s nuclear programme in “a comprehensive manner”. The Israeli government sharing the contents of Iran’s secret nuclear records with parties to the nuclear deal after their seizure by Mossad in a covert operation in Tehran in 2018 should have removed any doubts as to Iran’s ultimate nuclear ambitions. Just restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, for which Coveney has expressed some enthusiasm, should not be the main objective.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2021 00:53 UTC