Israel Explores Plan B for Iran

By Rachel Max ‘24
Recent concerns point to Iran possibly reneging on its nuclear production promises.  
Iran has been promising to hold discussions for months, yet since Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi was elected in June, the discussion of reinstating the deal has been on hold. 
In 2015, Iran entered a deal with the World Powers that prohibited them from producing any form of nuclear weaponry and permitted international inspectors to ensure they were keeping their end of the bargain.

With Iran potentially refusing to reinstate the nuclear deal, Israel has made it clear that they are discussing plans for handling the situation. While they have yet to elaborate, their solutions might be less than diplomatic.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said of the matter, “there are moments when nations must use force to protect the world from evil. If a terror regime is going to acquire a nuclear weapon we must act. We must make clear that the civilized world won’t allow it. If the Iranians don’t believe the world is serious about stopping them, they will race to the bomb.”
A major cause of the concern that Iran is building nuclear weaponry is that they have been stockpiling enriched uranium and continue to do so even while discussing resuming the deal. The 2015 agreement prevented them from enriching uranium above 3.67%. However, Behruz Kamalvandi, the spokesman of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, has announced that they are producing 20% and 60% enriched uranium.
It’s not just Lapid that is considering non-diplomatic means. Robert Malley, an American diplomat, stated that “we have to prepare for a world where Iran doesn’t have constraints on its nuclear program and we have to consider options for dealing with that.”
There is hope that this deal (if reinstated) could help bring the Middle Eastern conflict to an end, but there is also growing fear it will do just the opposite and aggravate the situation. Officials are hopeful that the negotiations will go smoothly, but they are preparing for the worst.
As of November, Iran has agreed to negotiate in Vienna by the end of the month. America is also planning on attending this conference to discuss rejoining the deal as well. In 2018, under former President Trump, America pulled out of this same deal, and now President Biden is hoping to discuss possibly rejoining.
America will be playing an essential role in the reinstating of this deal which is critical as Iran has made it clear that they will not agree to anything until America promises not to pull out again. Bagheri Kani, the political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, said, “We need verification, and this remains unresolved.” 
He added that Iran wanted the European powers to give their own guarantees to continue trade with Iran regardless of America’s stance.
Though world diplomats hope things will wrap up quickly and smoothly, this is likely a discussion that will continue for months as the countries struggle to compromise.