June 29, 2020
consortiumnews.com

The Escalating Crisis Over Iran's Nuclear Inspections

An IAEA resolution based on questionable Israeli intelligence has sparked a crisis with Iran that could spin out of control

by Scott Ritter

The current crisis over Iran's nuclear program was triggered by the IAEA Board of Governors, which on June 19 passed a resolution expressing its "serious concern" over Iran's refusal to provide "access to the Agency under the Additional Protocol to two locations." . . .

When the Trump administration, acting on President Trump's belief that the JCPOA was a "bad agreement," withdrew from the JCPOA and began re-imposing U.S. economic sanctions, which had been lifted under the terms of the deal, Iran indicated that it would reconsider its participation.

For the time being, Iran continued to abide by its obligations under the deal, accepting European Union and the other JCPOA nations' guarantees that regardless of what the U.S. did vis-a-vis sanctions, the other nations would not follow suit, and thereby fulfill their commitments to Iran under the terms of the JCPOA.

A year after the U.S. withdrawal from the deal, however, Europe collectively reneged on that commitment, succumbing to the threat of U.S. secondary sanctions, which threatened any European business that engaged in commerce with Iran.

In response, Iran invoked Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA. Article 26 holds that if new nuclear-related sanctions are imposed on Iran by any party to the deal it will constitute "grounds (for its authorities) to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part." . . .

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Non-Proliferation Treaty (July 1, 1968)
- Forbids the five member states with nuclear weapons from transferring them to any other state
- Forbids member states without nuclear weapons from developing or aquiring them
- Provides assurance through the application of international safeguards that peaceful nuclear energy in NNWS will not be diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
- Facilitates access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy for all NNWS under international safeguards
- Commits all member states to pursue good faith negotiations toward ending the nuclear arms race and achieving nuclear disarmament.

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[20 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima . . . US Air Force plans to order more than 600 of them--Elisabeth Eaves, "Why is America getting a new $100 billion nuclear weapon?," asiatimes.com, January 18, 2021]

[The TPNW is a significant milestone in the long and global effort to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons. The 86 countries that have signed so far are also signatories to the NPT - which also calls for nuclear disarmament - but signed on to the TPNW in apparent frustration over what they consider inadequate progress by the nuclear-armed states in fulfilling their NPT obligations.--Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda, "The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Enters Into Force Today," Federation of American Scientists, January 22, 2021

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