Meeting in Tehran today with Iran’s 59-year-old Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, 52-year-old German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern about Iran’s threats to ramp up its uranium enrichment program. Though vehemently denying that it was working on an A-bomb, Iran was enriching weapons’ grade uranium before former President Barack Obama completed the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPA], getting Iran to temporarily halt its nuclear enrichment activities. When 72-year-old President Donald Trump cancelled the Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018, Iran went wild, threatening to re-up its nuke activities. If Iran had no interest in an A-bomb, why would they threaten to resume making weapon’ grade uranium? Trump cancelled the JCPA because Iran’s Mullah government took the sanctions relief cash to sponsor proxy war against Saudi Arabia.
Germany, representing the European Union, wants to keep the JCPA intact, hoping Iran does not break the agreement and start enriching weapons’ grade uranium. “We do not want Iran to have nuclear weapons,” Maas said, describing his trip to Iraq, Jordan and United Arab Emirates. Maas considers the JCPA important to the EU, largely keeping nukes from Tehran. Trump reneged on the JCPA precisely because of Iran’s malign activities in the Mideast and North Africa, sponsoring proxy war in Yemen against Saudi Arabia, supplying arms-and-cash to Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon. When Obama negotiated with Iran in 2015, Zarif and former Secretary of State John Kerry agreed to sanctions relief in exchange for Iran suspending its uranium enrichment program. Since Trump pulled out last year, Iran’s been threatening to resume uranium enrichment.
Maas thinks the JCPA is important to Germany and the EU because it deters Iran from building an A-bomb, something that could destabilize the region, possibly lead to regional war. Maas insists that Germany and the EU “have made the greatest effort to meet [their] commitments” to Tehran. With the Iranian rial currency at one-quarter the 2015 value, Trump’s sanctions have taken a bite out of the Iranian economy. Maas conceded to Zarif that it’s more difficult for the EU to guaranteed economic commitments of the JCPA, realizing the U.S. sanctions were taking its toll. Maas told Zarif that it’s “Political and strategic interest to maintain this agreement and the dialogue with Europe,” despite the Trump pulling out of the agreement. Trump pointed out that the JCPA was essentially blackmail with Iran demanding cash in exchange for suspending it military-grade uranium program
Whatever happens with Maas and Zarif is anyone’s guess. International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Yukiya Amano expressed concern about Iran’s recent nuke activities. “I am worried about increasing tensions over the Iranian nuclear issues,” Amano told the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors. With Trump sending a carrier-strike force to the Persian Gulf, Amano showed concern about a possible war between the U.S. and Iran. No one in the EU has acknowledged Iran’s malign activities in the Mideast and North Africa, sponsoring a proxy war against Saudi Arabia, giving arms-and-cash to Hamas and Hezbollah. Europeans want cheap Iranian oil and don’t want the U.S. to interfere with their energy purchases. Trump, on the other hand, wants Iran to stop sponsoring proxy war against Saudi Arabia and shouting death threats against the United States and Israel.
If Iran were not working on an A-bomb, the U.S. wouldn’t have entered into the JCPA in the first place. Iran’s continued denials and refusal to allow IAEA inspectors into sensitive military sites where U.S. intel has Iran continuing to enrich weapons grade uranium suggests the agreement a farce. Despite claiming they oppose Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the EU continues to buy 25% of its energy from Russia. EU officials talk tough in public when it comes to Russia or Iran but they need the energy to keep the world’s second largest trading bloc functioning. Amano hoped “that ways can be found to reduce current tensions through dialogue. It is essential that Iran fully implement its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPA,” Amano said. Amano won’t admit that Iran has never been in compliance with JCPA, preventing IAEA inspectors from entering military facilities.
Meeting in Tehran, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that it was imperative that Iran did not start up its uranium enrichment program. Iran wants to continue selling oil into world markets, something blocked by strict U.S. sanctions, preventing U.S. allies from buying Iranian oil. Zarif wants the EU, Russia and China to agree to buy Iranian oil to help bolster the failing Iranian economy. If Amano wants to really reduce tensions between Iran and the U.S., he needs to tell Iran that resuming uranium enrichment would invalidate the whole purpose of the JCPA. Asking Iran to refrain from destabilizing the Mideast and North Africa would be a good first start in reducing tensions. If Tehran wants international acceptance, it needs to stop waging proxy war against Saudi Arabia and supplying arms-and-cash to Hamas and Hezbollah.
