Iran nuclear deal

Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani meets Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano in Saadabad Palace, Tehran, October 13, 2015. (Mahmoud Hosseini/CC BY 4.0)

IAEA chief’s death could spell the end of the Iran nuclear deal

With the recent death of the head of the IAEA, Netanyahu is finding renewed opportunity to bring the ‘atomic archives’ back to center stage and further sabotage the Iran nuclear deal. This is a grave strategic mistake. By Shemuel Meir The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the multilateral agreement that restricts Iran’s nuclear program and…

By +972 Magazine August 9, 2019

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, and Air Force commander Ido Nehoshtanas inspect an F-15, August 11, 2009. (Edo Israel/Flash90)

The attack on Iran that wasn’t: Ehud Barak’s autobiography

As Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak was determined to carry out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program. His book provides the tools to examine the limitations of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and the considerations Israeli leaders put into the decision to go to war. By Shemuel Meir “My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching…

By +972 Magazine January 17, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents files that he says prove the existence of Iran's nuclear program, during a press conference at the Kirya defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Not so fast, Bibi: Why new sanctions won’t bring down the Islamic Republic

President Trump’s new sanctions on Iran were widely praised by Netanyahu and the media. But they may not bring about the outcome so desired by the Israeli leader and his followers. By Shemuel Meir President Trump’s recent declaration on the renewal of the oil and finance sanctions on Iran were greeted with great enthusiasm by Israeli…

By +972 Magazine November 25, 2018

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An American sailor stands lookout aboard a guided missile cruiser with the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier seen in the background. (U.S. Navy photo/William Jenkins)

Beyond American hegemony and a liberal international order

With Trump’s departure from the Iran deal, many are mourning the ‘rules based international order.’ But Trump is not the problem: the world has changed, and the idea that the U.S. dominates the world by dint of power, values, wisdom, even God’s decisions is a myth. By Gordon Adams America’s place in the world is…

By +972 Magazine May 24, 2018

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on the Iran nuclear program at the Kirya defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Netanyahu just made the best case for the Iran nuclear deal

Intent on killing the Iran nuclear deal, Netanyahu and Trump have dispensed with logic and are relying on emotion, confusion, and fear to try to achieve their objective. By Paul R. Pillar Benjamin Netanyahu’s display of a cartoon bomb before the United Nations General Assembly nearly six years ago received much ridicule but at least was grounded in some…

By +972 Magazine May 1, 2018

The ruins following the 2018 American-led bombing of Homs. (Fathi Nizam/CC BY 4.0)

After Syria strike, showdown looms over the future of the Iran nuclear deal

The success of a coordinated military strike on Assad’s chemical weapon stockpiles actually bodes well for the Iran nuclear deal. By Shemuel Meir Western powers made good on their warning to the Assad regime on April 14, 2018, and attacked the production and storage sites of the chemical weapons in his possession. The coordinated, wide-ranging operation by the United…

By +972 Magazine April 22, 2018

Palestinians pass through the Israeli army checkpoint at Qalandiya, March 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

50 things that have been around for less time than the occupation

How much has the world changed since Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory began in 1967? The occupation, as we are all too well aware, is about to turn 50. It’s difficult to grasp just how significant a period of time five decades is — especially when we’re trying to imagine the durability of a state of…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 21, 2017

A test launch of the Iranian Emad intermediate-range ballistic missile, October 11, 2015. (Mohammad Aaah/Tasnim News Agency)

What ‘putting Iran on notice’ really means

It’s high time for the United States to interject some realism into discussions about Iranian missiles. By Greg Thielmann Iran’s January 29 flight test of a medium-range ballistic missile helped prompt an ominous if ambiguous warning by U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on February 1: “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on…

By +972 Magazine February 8, 2017

Speaker Paul Ryan meets with the President and Vice President-elect, Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Pence on Capitol Hill after their election. (Office of the Speaker of the House)

Prominent Iranian-Americans to Trump: Keep the nuclear deal

Thirty-seven leading Iranian Americans pen open letter to President-elect Trump, urging him to keep the Iran deal. Abandoning it, they write, will ‘once again put the United States and Iran on the path of war.’ By Jim Lobe In a particularly eloquent and straightforward defense of the Iranian nuclear deal, 37 prominent Iranian Americans have…

By +972 Magazine January 8, 2017

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C., February 10, 2011. (Gage Skidmore)

What happens if Trump rips up the Iran deal? A view from Israel

President-elect Trump is just two months away from controlling America’s nuclear arsenal. His supporters are already working on torpedoing Obama’s greatest foreign policy success. By Shemuel Meir For many the combination of the words “Donald Trump” and “nuclear weapons” is the stuff of nightmares. “If we have nuclear weapons — why don’t we use it?” asked Trump during…

By +972 Magazine November 18, 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry following their meeting in Jerusalem, December 5, 2013. (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)

U.S. support for Israel’s nuclear ambitions will come at a price

Nuclear disarmament in the Middle East is making a comeback. American backing for Israel on the nuclear issue hinges on steps being taken toward peace. By Shemuel Meir Israel is investing great efforts in declaring victory over Egypt on the nuclear issue. As if it were a kind of ritual, reports keep coming out lauding Israel’s victory…

By +972 Magazine November 6, 2016

Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003.

Colin Powell acknowledges 200 Israeli nukes

In leaked emails the former secretary of state acknowledges Israel’s nuclear arsenal, which he is pointed at Tehran. By Eli Clifton According to hacked emails reviewed by foreign policy website LobeLog, former Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged Israel’s nuclear arsenal, an open secret that U.S. and Israeli politicians typically refuse to acknowledge as part of Israel’s strategy of “nuclear…

By +972 Magazine September 15, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry greets Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on March 20, 2015, in Lausanne, Switzerland, before their advisers resumed negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear program. (State Department photo)

One year on: The Iran deal has fulfilled its promise

Despite what Israel’s prime minister may have you believe, the Iran nuclear deal has succeeded in doing exactly what it set out to do: significantly decreasing the threat of a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic. By Shemuel Meir The annual Herzliya Conference made headlines a few weeks back simply due to the fact that former Defense Minister Moshe…

By +972 Magazine July 9, 2016