As of June 15, the United States and Iran agreed to stop hostilities and continue working toward diplomacy. Essentially, the two countries’ armed forces have made an agreement in hopes to make an actual deal. While we should be praising efforts to hopefully stop this war and establish peace, this entire situation with Iran makes me appreciate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated by President Barack Obama even more, because if the deal were still intact, all of this could have been avoided.
In the JCPOA, otherwise known as the “Iran Nuclear Deal,” the United States was able to persuade Iran to reduce its uranium to 3.67% purity as well as keep its enriched uranium stockpile at 300 kilograms. That is a 98% reduction in the amount of uranium Iran was obtaining. Not only this, but the theocratic regime agreed to reduce its gas centrifuges to 6,100 with only about 5,000 operating still. To note, Iran’s centrifuges were reported at nearly 19,000 before the Iran Nuclear Deal. Just to add to the laundry list of benefits from the deal, Iran agreed to not use its water redactor at Arak to produce plutonium for weapons. One might ask how the United States and the other party members would be able to know all of this. Well, Iran actually agreed to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to supervise them and report back to the United States and the European Union.
And yes, I am aware the U.S. agreed to ease sanctions on Iran, and that they were granted assets that America froze after the 1979 revolution, but this truly was a good deal. The United States was able to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon without firing a shot. This is the type of foreign policy that great leaders like John F. Kennedy preached. We should always be attempting diplomacy before violence.
While I realize Donald Trump had no idea in 2018 that he would be in a war with Iran due to his destruction of the nuclear deal, it is a classic example of actions having consequences. Trump’s problem with this deal is his failure to see past the politics. Since Obama was the person to reach this agreement, Trump had to end it. While the Democratic Party does it as well, political parties and politicians should not be taking sides due to spite. We should be asking more of our leaders to make decisions based on whether they are going to benefit the U.S. and hopefully the world, not simply because we do not like an elected official. In this case Trump screwed up, and now 13 service members have died, Iran has an economic weapon with the Strait of Hormuz, they still have their programs set up to enrich uranium, and we as Americans are paying more at the pump. Whether they establish a deal or not, this is a failure.
Jack Teoli
Newhall
