Iranian officials have repeatedly announced that the main goal in the talks was to remove the illegal, inhumane sanctions imposed by the US; however, there is no doubt that safeguarding the nuclear achievements is as important as removal of cruel sanctions.
In this context, the thing which was a pretext for the US to impose sanctions against Iran has now turned to a valuable capacity for Iran to move forward with the goal of removing those sanctions.
Moreover, Iran has experimentally understood that in the absence of a fair international legal or political mechanism to reclaim right or guarantee implementation of international deals the best and most effective guarantee is one that depends on no external element and is in entirety under the authority of the country.
Such guarantees which are both the source and the product of a country’s sovereignty are made out of a nations capabilities and are considered to be essential.
An example of an essential guarantee was enshrined in the paragraphs 26 and 36 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal informally known as the Iran nuclear deal which was signed between Iran and the six world powers in 2015.
Iran invoked those paragraphs in 2019 when it reduced its compliance to the JCPOA as compensatory act in response to the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 that was followed by resumption of US sanctions against Iran.
“Essential guarantee” is both a legal, legitimate measure against an illegal act by the other party and an effective assurance that deters potential violators.
The concept of “guaranteeing fulfilment of commitments” which has been continuously raised by Iran during the near year-long negotiations is a type of realistic prudence to prevent another violation from happening again.
That’s why the topic of “assurances” has been one of the main demands by Iran and one of the most important issues in the talks in the Austrian capital discussed during many meetings. There has also been drafts written on the issues and it continues to be a topic of discussion.
After the US ceased its participation to the JCPOA in May 2018 and resumed unilateral sanctions, Iran gave an opportunity to the European participants of the deal to scramble to remedy the effects of US withdrawal.
However, Iran’s strategic patience was to no avail since neither the US reversed its actions, nor the European parties were able to compensate the effects of US sanctions against Iran. As a result, Tehran decide to reduce its compliance to the JCPOA in five steps, but it made it clear that the steps were totally reversible if the use removed its sanctions.
Iran’s capability to revive its nuclear capacities in a short time and the endeavor made by the Iranian negotiating team to safeguard the nations’ new nuclear achievements has made Iran’s commitments have “rapid reversibility”.
The other party now knows well that Iran’s implementation of commitments would be conditional and will continue only as long as the other party fulfils its commitments based on Iran’s verification standards.
A recent report in the Wall Street Journal cited American officials saying that what Washington calls “12-month breakout time” was no more available and Iran’s advancements and its team’s insistence has made it impossible.
The concept of “breakout time” itself, however, is an artificial term faked by the political groups close to the Israeli regime to make Iran’s nuclear program look threatening. The term has no clear basis and even the US and the Israeli regime disagree on how to calculate it.
Moreover, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has always confirmed that Iran has had no deviation in its nuclear program from the international law.
Nevertheless, the other party’s admission of Iran’s nuclear capability is an indication that any deal that is reached in Vienna would strengthen the “essential guarantee” and such document would have enhanced characteristic in comparison to the 2015 deal.
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