On Monday, Tehran announced that it is resuming the enrichment of uranium to 20-percent purity. Behnam Ben Taleblu and Andrea Stricker judge this the “most egregious violation of the 2015 nuclear deal” that the Islamic Republic has admitted to, and explain the reasons for the move:
[Iran is now] producing uranium that qualifies as “highly enriched”—the level needed for nuclear weapons. Although states prefer to enrich uranium to higher purities for nuclear weapons—typically to 90 percent or “weapons-grade”—producing 20 percent-enriched uranium takes most of the overall effort required to make weapons-grade uranium. In other words, Tehran’s 20-percent gambit drastically cuts down the time needed to get weapons-grade uranium.
Now, with the Trump administration’s term in office nearing a close and Europe unable to serve as a foil to American economic pressure, Iran’s ruling elite understands that greater nuclear boldness is likely to result in a greater reward. Specifically, given that the incoming U.S. administration seeks a departure from the Trump administration’s policies, the recent escalation is perfectly timed to add leverage to the Iranian position if nuclear negotiations commence.
In short, Iran has moved closer to building atomic bombs, and can now offer to cease 20-percent enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. Taleblu and Stricker explains how the U.S. should react:
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif framed 20-percent enrichment as a “reversible” move. But in so doing, he inadvertently shined a light on a fact that American policymakers failed to heed before, but must now acknowledge if they seek a durable nonproliferation agreement with Iran: any deal that relies on political compromise alone to check the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions is a non-starter.
President-elect Biden would be wise to recognize that staying the course on American pressure is the only hope for reaching a better deal and addressing Iran’s nuclear threat once and for all.
Read more on Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/tehrans-20-percent-enrichment-designed-extort-washington-opinion-1559319?amp=1