From this WaPo report, it appears we were on the brink of reviving the JCPOA, aka the Iran nuclear deal, when Russia invaded Ukraine, and now Russia, one of the signatories of the original deal, is raising an objection. Iran’s feeling the squeeze:
But Tehran has also made it clear that Iran feels it can’t risk a public rift with Russia by turning its back on Russia’s concerns and aligning with the United States, according to a person familiar with the details of the talks, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive subjects.
Someone should whisper in Iran’s ear concerning the trustability of Russia on anything. Of course, that might not make Iran’s leadership any happier, seeing as their options of the United States and China are unappetizing – at least to an Islamic theocracy. Under former American President Trump, we proved volatile and untrustable in pulling out of the JCPOA and reimposing sanctions, and that, sadly, remains a solid potential:
Comments by former vice president Mike Pence in an interview earlier this week with an Israeli newspaper that a future Republican administration would again withdraw from any revived deal also did not help, said a senior Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive subjects.
It’s deeply shameful that the former vice president made such a remark, which paints America as a dishonorable entity that does not live up to its commitments. Thus we see the descent of the American political class into vast, self-centered incompetence. The Republicans lead the way, but I suspect the Democrats are not far behind.
Back to the main plot, but China has what might be argued an even worse guilt in their relentless persecution of the their Islamic Uighur minority. Do the theocrats in Tehran really want to ally with a country whose leadership is dedicated to wiping out their religion?
But the unstable nature of autocracy, inevitably streaked as it is with splashes of brutality, incompetence, and arbitrariness, and possibly seasoned with an obscure religious zealotry peculiar to Russia and alien to Iran, has been revealed in all its repulsive glory. Do the theocrats feel entirely comfortable buying the arms of Russia when they’ve been revealed to be of surprisingly inferior quality by this conflict? I have to wonder if Supreme Leader Khamenei has nightmares featuring scenes from the American advance into Kuwait during the First Gulf War, in which American tanks easily outclassed their Russian-made counterparts used by the Iraqi Army.
I’d wake up in a cold sweat if I were him.
Nor can Russia offer relief from American sanctions any longer. The ruble is being rapidly reduced to a joke, Russia’s suffering a brain drain, and only its nuclear arms and immense natural resources retain their value.
I wonder if we’ll be seeing the Iranians trying to inch their way to signing on the dotted line soon.
