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." . . .
FULL TEXT
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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NPT -- Not Iran," Antiwar.com, September 26, 2009
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Nuclear Program," The Wisdom Fund, November 11, 2011
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Attack on Iran Was Illegal 'Act of Force'," Wired, March 25, 2013
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With Iran, Russia," The Wisdom Fund, March 15, 2017
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UN rejects US bid to 'snapback' Iran sanctions," bbc.com, August 26, 2020
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Pushing War With Iran Who Doesn't Actually Exist," theamericanconservative.com,
September 2, 2020
Joseph Trevithick, "New Low-Yield Nuclear Warheads That
Biden Calls A "Bad Idea" Have All Been Delivered," thedrive.com, December 29, 2020
Jonathan Tennenbaum, "America
on a new fast track to fusion energy," asiatimes.com, January 18, 2021
