Iran’s deal was based on lies and is untenable
Israel and its Arab neighbours agree that Tehran is being rewarded for its deceitful actions
Last Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed a vast repository of over 100,000 documents and files that Israeli intelligence obtained from Iran’s secret nuclear archive in Tehran.
The documents include official letters, spreadsheets, blueprints, photographs, videos and more, all attesting to the Iranian regime’s clandestine plans to build nuclear weapons. One document proclaimed an ominous mission statement for the covert programme: to “design, produce and test five warheads, each with ten kiloton TNT yield for integration on a missile”. That is like five Hiroshima bombs.
The American government received this significant intelligence weeks ago, and has attested to its authenticity. We are now sharing this information with the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the nuclear deal, Iran committed to coming clean about all prior military nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This step was essential in gauging Iran’s commitment to non-proliferation, and measuring how close the regime was to achieving nuclear weapons. The material that Israel has uncovered provides overwhelming documentary proof that Iran lied to the IAEA.
Prior to these important revelations, the Americans set this Saturday, May 12 as the date by which a decision needs to be taken about the future of the Iranian nuclear deal.
As it stands, the agreement does not prevent proliferation. On the contrary, the deal contains three significant pitfalls that, if left unresolved, pave a clear path for the regime to build nuclear weapons.
Firstly, the deal allows Iran to continue to develop ballistic missiles. Over the past decade, Iran has enthusiastically expanded its arsenal of missiles, increasing their range from 1,000km to approximately 2,000km. Not satisfied with simply being able to threaten my country and other nations nearby, Iran is planning to further extend its missiles’ range, enabling them to reach cities in Europe.
The second major pitfall of the deal is that the inspection mechanism is wholly inadequate. Iran has never declared its enrichment facilities voluntarily, having only admitted to their existence after another source revealed them. Currently, any declared Iranian military base is off-limits to inspectors. For a regime intent on concealing an illicit nuclear weapons programme, such an arrangement is extraordinarily convenient.
Thirdly, the deal’s restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities expire in just a few years. Then, Iran will be free to enrich unlimited quantities of uranium, using hundreds of thousands of centrifuges. This sunset clause will reward the regime for its deceit.
Proponents of the deal have claimed that it would be better to integrate the Islamic Republic into the global community and encourage Iran to act more responsibly. Yet, three years after the deal was reached, the regime’s actions have proven the very opposite to be true.
Iran’s oppression of political dissenters and minorities has only worsened. Last December, thousands were arrested when the authorities clamped down violently on a wave of nationwide protests. In February, the regime jailed 29 women for standing up for their freedom. The Islamic Republic’s neighbours are increasingly suffering, as the regime exploits the economic benefits of the deal to fund its nefarious activities in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. In Syria, Tehran continues to prop up the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. Furthermore, Iran is actively funding, training and arming terror groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas.
This continued encroachment and aggression, along with the pitfalls in the 2015 agreement, and the dramatic new revelations from Iran’s nuclear archive, all attest to the folly of basing our common security upon Iranian duplicity and mendacity. Preventing Iranian nuclear proliferation is only possible if we robustly confront Tehran’s covert nuclear activity, halt its ballistic missile programme, and condition the lifting of restrictions upon a tangible change in Iranian behaviour.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is not the only leader to criticise the 2015 agreement as a “terrible deal”. Throughout the Middle East, Arab leaders have expressed identical concerns. The world does not tend to expect Israelis and Arabs to find common cause. When Iran’s neighbours – Arab and Israeli alike – agree that the Iranian nuclear deal is untenable, people in the United Kingdom should sit up and take notice.