Iran: We Can Walk Away From Nuclear Deal

We have pointed out repeatedly that, while Iran likely will cheat on its nuclear agreement, it doesn’t have to. Its incentive to enter into the deal was the end of sanctions. That objective has now been achieved. Iran has gotten something like $100 billion in cash, and has entered into numerous development agreements with Russia and other countries. Having gotten what it needed from the deal, Iran can walk away at will and resume its nuclear weapons development, full speed.

That was the message from Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran:

Behrouz Kamalvandi warned the US and other world powers that Tehran can return its nuclear program to conditions before the July deal much faster than estimated by them.

“Since the beginning, we have foreseen measures for return scenarios and if needed, we are ready to create conditions rapidly that will certainly surprise the other side,” Kamalvandi said on Thursday.

“If we decide to return to the past conditions for the other side’s non-compliance to the nuclear deal, naturally, we can have highly good conditions rapidly using advanced centrifuges,” he added.

Of course they can. Currently, Iran’s leaders are threatening to abandon the agreement on account of purported breaches by Western countries. But they don’t really need an excuse. Such a fig leaf would probably be welcomed more by Barack Obama and John Kerry than by the mullahs.

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