Memorandum on the Iran Nuclear Deal

TO: United States Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan

FROM: Kristen Fontaine

DATE: 20 April 2018

SUBJECT: Maintaining the United States’ Involvement in the Iran Nuclear Deal  

SUMMARY: The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) addressed the nuclear threat of Iran against the United States and the International Community; the nuclear deal limited Iran’s enriched uranium possession to about 3%, thus preventing their capability to develop nuclear weapons. In response, the United States gradually lifted economic sanctions against the country. Currently, although President Trump has expressed his wishes to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal, it is in the United States’ best interest to remain in compliance with the deal, as well as work multilaterally with the P5+1 world powers to plan for when the deal will expire.   

CONTEXT: Due to the threat posed by Iran on the international community, it has consistently been on the radar of the United States’ foreign policy. The United States has placed economic sanctions on Iran since 1979 for humanitarian issues, but we renewed sanctions in 2002 when it because suspect for Iran to develop enriched uranium, the chemical needed to produce a nuclear bomb. Iran holds the nuclear capabilities of uranium mining, milling, conversion, and enrichment facilities; essentially, the country has the power to create nuclear weapons but their technology is not advanced enough to do so. On July 14, 2015, the P5+1, including China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, agreed with Iran to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. The deal officially went into effect on October 18, 2015, and implementation began on January 16, 2016. The deal requires Iran to get rid of 98% of their enriched uranium, subject to inspection and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In return, United States and the International Community agrees to lift the economic sanctions on Iran, which effectively devastate their economy, in five years. However, President Trump has repeatedly criticized the flaws of the Iran Nuclear Deal—specifically the short life span of the Deal as well as the reports of Iran currently testing ballistic missiles that could potentially reach Israel. According to the current deal, most of the nuclear restrictions will be lifted by 2026, and all of them will be lifted by 2031. On January 12, 2018, President Trump told the United Kingdom, France, and Germany that if they did not “fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal” then he would refuse to extend the relief to U.S. sanctions that the deal involves. These sanctions will go back into place on May 12, 2018 if President Trump does not issue new waivers, which would fail to uphold our end of the nuclear deal. However, major complications threaten the legitimacy of United States’ foreign policy if we pull out of the JCPOA.

ALTERNATIVE: The United States should renew the waivers to suspend the economic sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile, we can work with the other members of the P5+1 to figure out how to address the possible disregard for the deal by Iran. Additionally, the United States should partner with P5+1 and Iranian leadership to develop a plan of action for after the components of the deal expires.

MAIN ARGUMENT: President Trump is not approaching this issue from the direction that will be most beneficial to neither the United States nor the international community as a whole. If America is truly dedicated to preventing Iran from developing nuclear technology, it would be unwise to reinstate the sanctions and pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Although the current deal does have its flaws, it is better than no plan of action whatsoever. Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Iran is complying with their end of the JCPOA, despite the suspicions of them testing ballistic missile technology. Iran has responded to Trump’s threats of withdrawal by claiming that Iran would not react positively, which would further increase their threat to the United States as well as ruin any chance of further diplomacy with the country. Additionally, the United States needs to stop approaching this issue single-handedly—since we were involved in the initial development of the JCPOA, it is also our responsibility to address any issues with the deal multilaterally with the P5+1world powers. Even if President Trump is convinced that only the United States can deter the threat of Iran, withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal would essentially have the opposite effect. This is an issue afflicting the entire international community, and it is the multilateral responsibility of the world’s powers to work together to solve issues with the current deal and plan for the future of Iran’s nuclear capability.

CONCLUSION: President Trump’s threats to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal and restore the economic sanctions against Iran would not prove beneficial for the foreign policy interests of the United States. Instead, it is vital that the United States remain involved in the JCPOA and waive the sanctions against Iran by May 12, 2018. Although the Iran Nuclear Deal does have faults, and will end before the issue is completely solved, it current implementation is most important. The United States needs to abide by the provisions of the Deal while also working to ensure its implementation is efficient. Then, the United States can work multilaterally with the P5+1 to make a plan for when the deal is set to expire.