Mediaboss Marketing

Jan. 16, 2022 5:44 pm ET

Jeremy Ben-Ami has been an opponent of pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran and a supporter of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. That 2015 deal, with nuclear and missile restrictions that sunset between 2023 and 2031, gave Tehran patient pathways to nuclear weapons and the intercontinental missiles to deliver them. In his letter Diplomacy, Not War, With Iran (Jan. 14), Mr. Ben-Ami attacks us personally, but we all want a nuclear-free Iran so lets look, instead, at the facts.

His main argument is that Irans nuclear expansion occurred because President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and imposed a campaign of maximum pressure. The problem is that the timelines dont support that belief. Mr. Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018 and imposed severe sanctions from November 2018 until he left office. While Tehran took preliminary steps to expand its nuclear program in May 2019, the most significant steps took place after President Bidens election in November 2020. These include enriching uranium first to 20% purity and then to 60% (a stones throw from weapons-grade), the production of uranium metal for nuclear warheads, the operation of more advanced centrifuges, and massively increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Excerpt from:
As Biden Relaxed Pressure, Iran Took Advantage - The Wall Street Journal