Trump has announced that the US is leaving the Iran nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions, scuttling a diplomatic solution that has helped improve stability in the region and prevent war. We’re on a path to further confrontation with Iran, a prospect that could trigger massive destruction and endanger countless lives across the region.
The 2015 deal had been working. Under its terms, Iran eliminated 98% of its uranium stockpile, dismantled two-thirds of its centrifuges and destroyed the core of its plutonium reactor. All this was certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, as they conducted the robust and on-going inspections agreed to by Iran.
Trump is proposing no real alternative. Rather than choose to stay in the deal and negotiate additional agreements to address his purported concerns, he’s chosen to tear it all down. In so doing, he’s made it more likely – not less – that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, by undermining the internationally-recognized process of inspections.
This decision will have ripple effects for years to come, many that we cannot predict today. It deepens any tendency for governments to view the US with suspicion, endangering future diplomatic efforts – like the upcoming discussions with North Korea.
What’s more, if Iran considers the deal dead and chooses not to allow further inspections, the same war hawks who pushed to destroy the deal will use that as a pretense to agitate for war. These are the right-wingers who currently have Trump’s ear, since he’s staffed his cabinet with people who have broadcast their obsession with launching a war with Iran – people like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo.
There are still hopeful signs. Iran has already signaled that it will seek to remain in the deal with European partners. These are the diplomatic overtures that the international community must seize upon now to salvage this situation.
MADRE stands with women peace activists who have long pressed for diplomatic solutions. We have supported the Iran deal since it was established, and we denounce this dangerous and short-sighted action by Trump. Where MADRE works in the region, in places like Iraq and Syria, women and families have struggled to survive through intractable conflict, crises that would worsen unspeakably if the US launches a new war in the region. And wherever we’ve worked over the past 35 years, we’ve stood up to denounce US militarism that threatens human rights and peace.
Now is the time: stand up for the cause of peace, and call your representative to speak out against this decision.
