The Iranian Nuclear Deal: Why it will fail

The United States and Iran, despite having had previous issues, have finally reached an agreement regarding Iran’s use of its nuclear program, and potential access to nuclear weapons.

The Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will limit Iran’s overall nuclear footprint. On July 14, 2015, BBC reported that Iran will only have access to 2 percent of its former uranium store, granting them roughly 660 pounds to use. Coupled with a limit on the overall allowed level of enrichment for the uranium, this deal is supposed to prevent Iran from having a nuclear arsenal. However,it will not be effective in preventing a nuclear Iran.

Despite the JCPOA seeming satisfactory on the surface, it will only further Iran’s pursuit for nuclear weaponry. Previous attempts at halting Iran’s uranium enrichment have failed to result in any significant gain to the United States security, and the arrival of new, more powerful terrorists groups have only helped to fuel the political instability in Iran. We as a country would be naive to think that Iran is going to turn a new leaf  regarding many social issues we feel need to be addressed, when the country itself is run by an extremist who notably dislikes America.

CFR reported on July 15, 2015 that In 1967, Iran accepted the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which stated explicitly that Iran would never become a nuclear state. But, as time progressed, the United States became increasingly concerned regarding Iran’s true intentions surrounding their pursuit of nuclear weaponry.  After raising the concern of several other nations, Iran was strong-armed into signing the IAEA Safeguards Agreement, which was to become an additional branch of the NPT, and was to allow the International Atomic Energy Associations (IAEA) to inspect Iran’s facilities . Throughout the rest of the 20th century, suspicions continued rising until the United States was forced to apply sanctions to Iran’s economy.

BBC noted that Iran stands to earn 100 billion dollars or more worth of lost revenue due to United States sanctions, and they should be able to more freely sell their oil, one of their biggest exports.

The intended goal of the JCPOA is to eliminate Iran as a nuclear threat, and to hopefully restore Iran’s trust towards the United States. That is, however, not what will happen. Iran has frequently disregarded the United States’ strides toward peace, and has even threatened militant action in response to President Obama stating that the United States would defeat Iran if it came to war.

On September 14 2015, Fox News reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, stated the following regarding a hypothetical war against the United States,“ They must know that should any war break out, one will emerge humiliated out of it. It will be invading and criminal America .“ This statement, which was released via a YouTube video, was played over images of United States soldiers being shelled by Iranian missiles, before concluding with the image of an American flag draped casket being carried by seven American soldiers.

Previous attempts at creating peace between Iran and the United States failed throughout the 1970s, as they introduced many controversial policies over the course of the next 10 years, and continued their research despite agreeing to inspections. The only difference between what occurred in the twentieth century and what is occurring now, is that they are being rewarded to inevitably break the rules.

Iran has a documented history of disobeying rules that they themselves have agreed to, which is one of the reasons that they had sanctions applied to them in the first place. Throughout all of the national disapproval, which Iran has garnered over the years, nothing has stopped them from pursuing their goal of become a nuclearly armed country. A release of sanctions will do nothing but give Iran billions of  dollars to fund their research further and spite the wishes of those seeking a peaceful world.