This
month marks the second anniversary of the conclusion of the nuclear
negotiations between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The parties involved now have an opportunity to review the effectiveness of the
deal and how well it serves their interests. Iran’s aggressive behavior
sharpens the focus on whether the deal is going well.
It is
becoming evident that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has been a
rather ineffectual agreement. The deal gave the Islamic Republic tens of
billions of dollars worth of sanctions relief and asked for little or nothing
in return.
As far
as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can tell, Tehran is just about
complying with the deal in terms of the requisite restrictions on its nuclear
enrichment. However, the agreement did not permit comprehensive access for
international inspections.
Iran’s
nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi has publicly declared that the Islamic Republic
is prepared to resume its nuclear enrichment at an even higher level than prior
to the implementation of the JCPOA, if the U.S. or other Western powers
increase sanctions due to issues such as ballistic missile testing.
The
nuclear programme runs in parallel to the ballistic missile programme and
should have been addressed by the JCPOA yet was dropped due to Iranian
objections. The P5+1 instead resolved to address the ballistic missile issue
through the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2231, which Iran has broken
repeatedly.
One
cannot however be surprised that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)favors expansion of Iran’s ballistic missile program. After all, it was the
IRGC that carried out each of the ballistic missile tests that have violated
the UNSC Resolution 2231.
The
extension of the program has been endorsed by President Hassan Rouhani who is
credited to have made the JCPOA possible on the Iranian side. Not long after
securing election to a second term, Rouhani himself reiterated his government’s
rejection of restrictions on the ballistic missile program, noting that “the
Islamic nation has chosen to be strong.”
Last
month, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed information
gathered from its intelligence network inside the Islamic Republic regarding
recent escalations of missile activities. Forty two missile manufacturing,
development and testing sites were identified throughout the country, all of
them under the control of the IRGC. Shockingly, at least one of those sites was
coordinating with the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, the
institution that had been tasked with weaponization aspects of Tehran regime’s
nuclear program.
It is
crucial that the international community recognize the IRGC as a terrorist
organization and blacklist it from all manner of commerce. Although much effort
will be needed given the IRGC controls more than half of the Iranian gross
domestic product, the benefits will be greater for the Iranian people and the
wider world. A change of government in Tehran would be possible and a
transition to a true democracy embodied by the leader of the NCRI MaryamRajavi’s 10-point plan.
At the
recent NCRI rally in Paris on July 1, Mrs. Rajavi appealed to the international
community to condemn the IRGC as a terrorist organization and break its power.
“The ruling regime is in disarray and paralyzed as never before ... Iranian
society is simmering with discontent and the international community is finally
getting closer to the reality that appeasing the ruling theocracy is
misguided,” she said.
Unfortunately,
a policy of appeasement was in motion when nuclear negotiations were concluded
two years ago without addressing Tehran’s human rights violations and support
for terrorism. The fall out of the JCPOA has become apparent and it is up to
the world to renew its focus and take firm action against the IRGC and give
freedom back to the people of Iran.
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