Dealing with Iran
Allied missteps forced Israel to act
(Smoke rises over Tehran following Israeli airstrikes [AFP])
Israel has attacked Iran because two recent policies failed.
The first was Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed in 2013 by the US, Europe, Russia and China after Iran was subjected to punishing sanctions. JCPOA was a verifiable framework for ensuring Iran would have nuclear power and sanctions relief, but never nuclear weapons.
The second failed policy was Trump’s withdrawal from JCPOA, only three years after it entered into force, at the urging of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who firmly believed Iran was feigning compliance. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also chimed in with fears that sanctions relief was empowering Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Africa.
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