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by tristanj 1 day ago
The core reason those sunset dates exist is because Iranian officials stated that a sunset on enrichment limits was a non-negotiable. They would not sign a deal without them.

Claiming "agreements are renegotiated and extended" is hypothetical. What incentive does Iran have to agree to enrichment caps post-2030? Why would Iran give up its strongest negotiating card, its nuclear program?

2 comments

For the same reasons it temporarily gave it up before?
Under JCPOA, Iran capped its nuclear program for 15 years in exchange for:

* Global sanctions relief

* $100-150 billion in frozen assets

* Access to the global oil market

Iran in 2030 under JCPOA already has access to all three. The US already played its best cards to get Iran to agree to JCPOA. The US has little new to offer, other than resumed sanctions.

Under a JCPOA extension, why would items like access to the global oil markets (in addition to sanctions) not be part of the negotiations?

And with JCPOA and its possible continuation, that was a joint agreement among a number of countries - in the current situation, it’s just the U.S./Israel (+ them trying to impose their will on other countries to go along with any carrots/sticks).

Well yes, exactly. Would sanctions not be an incentive in 2030?
> The US has little new to offer, other than resumed sanctions.

Not turning the country into a parking lot is a rather generous offer.

> Claiming "agreements are renegotiated and extended" is hypothetical.

What's not hypothetical is that, under the deal, they agreed to not enrich until 2030. What's not hypothetical is that Trump abandoned the deal, with nothing to replace it, allowing them to start enriching in 2017 instead.

And if you're going to claim that renegotiation is hypothetical, then you also have to agree that any other possible future outcome, including one in which Iran develops a functional nuclear weapon, is also hypothetical.