Iran Deal Devotees Try in Vain to Save a Sinking Ship

by John R. Bolton  •  September 12, 2017 at 4:00 am

Staying in a bad agreement sends confusing signals to the Europeans, who are confused enough already on this issue, about how America intends to address the Iran threat. Pictured: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (right) at talks on June 27, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Supporters of Barack Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear agreement have, over the past two years, tried almost everything to sustain it.

Nonetheless, weaknesses in its terms, structure, implementation and basic strategic fallacy — i.e., that Iran's international behavior would "moderate" once it was adopted — are all increasingly apparent. For the deal's acolytes, however, continuing U.S. adherence has become a near-theological imperative.

At the most basic level, the agreement's adherents ignore how ambiguous and badly worded it is, allowing Iran enormous latitude to continue advancing its nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programs without being even "technically" in violation.

The adherents ignore Iran's actual violations (exceeding limits on uranium enrichment, heavy-water production and advanced-centrifuge capacity, among others). Having first argued strenuously there were no violations, they now plead that the violations are "not significant."

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