Iran's nuclear saga

Iran has cancelled the nuclear cooperation deal it signed with the IAEA last month, the latest chapter in the saga over Iran's nuclear programme. The collapsed deal comes just a few months after Iran's supreme leader criticised elements of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, and Western signatories still party to the deal threatened to impose sanctions.

Iran's decision is not, however, an unprovoked escalation but the culmination of years of failed commitments by Western nations, which have left Iran with little recourse but to reclaim its sovereign rights. The root of the current crisis lies in the 2018 unilateral withdrawal of the US from the deal and the reimposition of crushing sanctions, both of which are violations of the deal itself, according to several experts on international law. The "maximum pressure" campaign, maintained even during Covid-19 and other humanitarian crises, severely hampered Iran's economy and its ability to address the needs of its people, and despite Iran's full compliance with the deal for several years after the US withdrawal, the European parties to the agreement - France, Germany and the UK - failed to deliver the promised economic benefits, and eventually triggered the "snapback" mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions. From Iran's perspective, it was the Western nations that rendered the agreement meaningless.

The suspension of cooperation with the IAEA must also be viewed in its full context. The decision came only after military strikes by Israel and the US on Iranian nuclear facilities, amid what Iran perceived as the IAEA's failure to condemn these attacks or call out the Israeli PM's lies. Iran stuck to the deal a lot longer than anyone expected, only to continually be punished by two US presidents. The path forward now requires more than threatening Iran and demanding concessions. Iran deserves to be treated fairly, with sanctions relief and binding security guarantees that address legitimate concerns in return for full cooperation with nuclear inspectors.