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David's avatar

Crazy how absent this perspective on US policy towards Iran is from the current media coverage. Most outlets are totally fine letting Trump cosplay as some kind of humanitarian, as though we have an aircraft carrier now en route to ME *just in case* the authorities in Iran decide to execute some people.

Thanks for keeping me sane, RW!

Colin Pugh's avatar

Is there a paragraph missing to explain the AI graph?

Ken Teixeira's avatar

Just feed the graph to ChatGP and it will generate a paragraph for you!

David Roberts's avatar

I thought Iran would cheat on the original deal. I was wring. it was a huge blunder to renew in the deal.

Willis Jackson's avatar

You bring to mind the serenity prayer. And enjoy your life with love ones best you can.

Ken Teixeira's avatar

Why was Iran so willing to be in compliance with the JCPOA until 2019? Could it be perhaps that the agreement was woefully inadequate? At the time, Pres Obama admitted, "This is the best deal we could get." Here are the main flaws in the agreement, as articulated by Dr. Google:

Key Criticisms & Flaws:

---Sunset Clauses: Restrictions on centrifuges and enrichment levels were temporary, meaning Iran could eventually return to a nuclear-capable state after 10-15 years,.

---Inadequate Verification: The deal didn't mandate comprehensive investigations into past weaponization (PMDs), allowing Iran to potentially conceal work and deny access to certain sites,.

---Legitimized Enrichment: Instead of banning uranium enrichment, the JCPOA allowed Iran to continue it under strict limits, giving them technical capacity and infrastructure,.

---Missile & Regional Behavior Ignored: The deal didn't restrict Iran's ballistic missile program or its support for regional proxies (like in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq), which were major security concerns,.

---Asymmetric Commitments: U.S. and international commitments (sanctions relief) were largely permanent, while Iran's nuclear obligations were temporary, creating an imbalance,.

---Short-Term Breakout Window: Critics argued the deal only compressed Iran's potential path to a bomb into a shorter window (the "breakout time") rather than eliminating it,.

--Lack of "Anytime, Anywhere" Access: Inspection protocols, particularly for undeclared sites or military-related research, were seen as insufficient and vulnerable to Iranian obstruction,.

In essence, critics felt the JCPOA traded significant economic benefits for temporary restraints, leaving Iran with the infrastructure, knowledge, and pathways to potentially develop nuclear weapons in the future, while failing to curb its destabilizing regional activities,

Yes... a couple thousand protesters dead... but how many might have died if a weak treaty allowed Iran to manufacture a nuclear weapon?