Last week, a deal was struck between Iran and six world powers. The Iran nuclear deal has concessions for both sides, but the United States walks away safer and more secure than it was before. While Republicans whine and moan about the deal and use fear-mongering tactics to scare the American public, a voice of reason has emerged: Georgetown University School of Foreign Service assistant professor of Security Studies, and Iran nuclear program expert, Ariane Tabatabai.
Ms. Tabatabai is very straightforward in her support of the Iran nuclear deal, saying,
“I think it’s a really good deal for both sides. Both sides get what they’ve been pursuing this entire time, which for the P5 +1 means it will scale back Iran’s enrichment program considerably ?- essentially by two-thirds…It also gives assurance Iran is not going to be building any new facilities for enrichment, and it’s going to mean that the Arak heavy water reactor is going to be rebuilt to produce less plutonium.”
But what about the concessions we are making? Republicans, and Israel for that matter, would have the public believe that we just made a deal with the devil, and gave them everything they wanted and then-some. But what did Iran actually walk away with? Tabatabai explains:
“In exchange, Iran gets proliferation-related sanction relief, which it has been wanting, and it will get some assistance from the international community for research and development. Both sides are gaining a lot of what they’ve been wanting to gain, and both sides have made concessions. In my mind it’s a very good deal for both sides.”
To be clear here, Iran is cutting back the nuclear program significantly. Ms. Tabatabai says that they are reducing it by two-thirds, and in fact, “…it will have only 6,104 installed centrifuges, as opposed to the current 19,000.” Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.
But how will we know that Iran is actually holding up their end of the bargain? Well, they have agreed to the strictest enforcement inspection program that has ever been implemented.
“In the framework deal, Tehran has said it will once again voluntarily implement the Additional Protocol to its existing IAEA safeguards agreement, granting the nuclear watchdog more inspections authority. (Iran had previously implemented the Protocol but stopped adhering to it.) This means that IAEA inspectors will be able to regularly monitor Iranian facilities and can conduct unannounced inspections as well. Inspectors will also have access to the supply chain through which Iran obtains materials for its nuclear program. Inspections will likely last for about 25 years, longer than the implementation period of the agreement itself.”
Tabatabai did not mince words with her feelings about Congressional Republicans, either. She says that the biggest obstacle that the historic nuclear deal has to overcome will be the members of Congress who will seemingly stop at nothing to undermine President Obama.
“The biggest spoiler here in Washington is Congress. I’m expecting any second now they will come out and say this is a terrible agreement and the world has given Iran a nuclear weapon. Certainly people in the region — the Saudis, the Israelis — will support those claims…My biggest concern in the next three months as the negotiating parties move forward is going to be how to make sure that critics don’t interfere with the process, and don’t derail it altogether.”
Let’s all hope that the Iran nuclear deal is able to been seen to fruition, because it will make the world a safer place, and will hopefully prevent another war. Though Republicans will use their loud, fear-mongering tactics to attempt to derail the deal, people who actually know what they are talking about are supporting it. I know that I’ll trust an expert over a fear-monger any day.
