Iran to review foreign policy - expert

By Trend

Iran is likely to reconsider its approaches and foreign policies as part of its "Plan B" if the negotiations for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal fail, Georgetown University Professor Shireen Hunter told Trend.

Iran needs to fundamentally reconsider its approach toward domestic issues and foreign policies, she said adding that the Iranian government should improve the economic situation.

Much of the discontentment in Iran is the result of economic problems, to solve these issues would widely depend on Iran’s reconsideration of its foreign policy, she noted.

Iran’s problem with the West does not only include the nuclear program, as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed it was expected Iran to review its regional policies but it did not and eventually, the former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal, she said responding to whether the opportunity of reviving the deal is lost.

She underlined that Iran does not have many plans if the JCPOA talks fail to revive the deal, for instance, if Iran moves toward building a nuclear bomb, the possible military attack on Iran would
increase and the West will not allow Iran to make the bomb.

According to the expert, choosing the nuclear option is dangerous, therefore Iran would reconsider policies and resume interaction with the West as the better option, especially when it’s clear that Russia and China seek to use Iran as instrumentally and are not ready to help the country’s economy.

In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year.

To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.

On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.

Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped into the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.

As reported, in late 2020, the Iranian parliament has decided to implement a strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal.

The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals.