The Bad Deal Iran Never Honoured

By Olivia Pierson
[First published on Incite Politics 10/5/18]

How refreshing to see a president keep his word – again!

Trump always hated the Iran deal, aka the JCPOA – Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and for good reason. It was nothing more than the vanity project of Obama and Kerry, who both cared more about their own historical legacies than they cared about Iran developing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic capability.

The JCPOA was reached in March 2015 and adopted in October of the same year. Before December was over Iran had violated the deal at least twice by testing ballistic missiles.

Iran flagrantly got away with this because the JCPOA agreement does not explicitly address ballistic missiles, only nuclear proliferation. Iran’s ballistic missile developments were meant to be covered off by UN Security Council resolutions that have been in place since 2006. But, the resolutions got an upgrade in conjunction with the JCPOA being implemented: Resolution 1929 (adopted in 2010) was replaced by Resolution 2231 (adopted in 2016 along with the JCPOA).  

Resolution 1929 states that: 

Iran is prohibited from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons and States are required to take all necessary measure to prevent the transfer of related technology or technical assistance.

The upgraded Resolution 2231 states that:

Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology. E
 of quote.
“Called upon” means there is no longer a legal prohibition on missile testing. It may as well read: “Iran is asked pretty-please-with-cherries-on-top not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles… blah, blah, blah.”

So, every time Iran tests a powerful ballistic missile with “Israel should be wiped off the map” painted on its side in Hebrew, Russia, a member of the Security Council, blocks any punitive repercussions by reminding everybody at the table in perfect legalese that being “called upon” is not the same restriction as being prohibited.

This utter bollocks shows how disgustingly desperate Obama and Kerry were to push the deal through – no wonder they never tried to get it through congress. Lucky for Trump (and Netanyahu) that Obama made this so easy for him to shred, unlike Obamacare.

Yet, on a note that is even worse regarding the JCPOA, Iran has refused to allow its military sites to be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency – even though they might be considered suspect, like the base in Parchin, because it was used before 2015 as a place to develop nuclear weapons. The IAEA actually allows Iran to inspect itself, with no physical presence of an agency inspector – just Iranian officials. The absurdity of this pandering is beyond sickening and was part of the corrupt side deal that Obama and Kerry tried to keep secret from the American people. 

The reality is that no one outside Iran actually knows anything about the actual happenings of nuclear proliferation going on inside the country, with the exception of Bibi Netanyahu, who claimed that “Iran has a clear path to a nuclear arsenal” after he conducted a dramatic presentation of 100,000 archived documents detailing Tehran’s ambitions, which Mossad smuggled out of Iran earlier this year. It proves that Iran lied, says Netanyahu, because Iran always claimed to the world that its nuclear ambitions were only ever peaceful.

Well done President Trump for keeping another promise and pulling out of a deal that many of us knew from the beginning was going to be a total farce.



If you enjoyed this article, please buy my book "Western Values Defended: A Primer" ​​​​​​