By Yossi Mekelberg

When, back in late August, the E3 — the UK, France and Germany — notified the UN that Iran was in breach of its obligations under the 2015 nuclear agreement, better known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which imposed severe restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities, the last nail was about to be hammered into this agreement’s coffin. A month later, as required by procedures, the notification led to the activation of the “snapback” mechanism, imposing a wide range of sanctions on the regime in Tehran due to what the E3 called “Iran’s persistent and significant nonperformance of its JCPOA commitments.”

There is hardly anyone who genuinely believes that imposing more sanctions on Iran is going to achieve an immediate impact. But after several years, the US, which unilaterally abandoned the JCPOA in 2018, and Europe are now more aligned in their efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear military capability. But will this necessarily lead to the desired result of Tehran rethinking its nuclear strategy?

This is unlikely because, unless there is a diplomatic path out of this crisis, it may have the opposite effect of reinforcing its rulers’ intransigence, especially at a time when the Iranian leadership is still licking its wounds from the June war with Israel, which exposed its security vulnerabilities after its nuclear facilities took a big hit.

President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, largely influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, destined the agreement to remain on life support until the triggering of the “snapback”........

© Eurasia Review