Iran deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposes files that prove Iran's nuclear program in a press conference at the Kirya government headquarters in Tel Aviv, on April 30, 2018. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Three years on, the Iran nuclear deal is still Israel’s best bet

Netanyahu has tirelessly tried to spin the Iran nuclear deal as dangerous, but the prime minister’s propaganda campaign has drowned out reasons why the agreement actually benefits Israel and the Middle East. By Shemuel Meir Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to praise President Donald Trump on his “important and brave” decision to reinstate sanctions on Iran,…

By +972 Magazine August 27, 2018

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference about Iran's nuclear program, April 30, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Out of Iran deal, into war? Either way, Netanyahu’s popularity soars

Netanyahu appears to have inoculated himself against looming corruption charges due to the dramatic developments on the security front. As war with Iran looms, why does the old formula work so well? On Wednesday night, the day after Trump announced his withdrawal from the Iran deal, in between Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Israel’s Channel 2…

By Dahlia Scheindlin May 10, 2018

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits across from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on June 30, 2015, in Vienna, Austria, before a one-on-one meeting amid negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear program. (State Department photo)

The Iranian nuclear deal remains the least bad option

Pulling the U.S. out of the deal — or provoking Iran to pull out — would mean abandoning the least bad option for dealing with an Iran that can produce highly enriched uranium. By Peter Jenkins Abbas Araghchi was in London last week. Araghchi, one of Iran’s deputy foreign ministers, was a negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive…

By +972 Magazine March 1, 2018

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President Donald Trump (Joyce N. Boghosian/White House photo)

Killing the Iran deal with a thousand cuts

Much like President Trump is undermining his predecessor’s other flagship achievement, the Affordable Care Act, the president is attacking the Iran nuclear agreement piecemeal. The result will be tragic. By Paul Pillar Don’t be either fooled or relieved by President Trump’s waiving, for now, of nuclear sanctions on Iran, and thus his forgoing of an…

By +972 Magazine January 15, 2018

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference, held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, December 6th, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Bibi says Iran will soon have 100 nuclear bombs. Well, where are they?

Netanyahu is repeating the claim that, following the nuclear deal, Iran will soon amass an arsenal of a hundred bombs. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. By Shemuel Meir Speaking at the Jerusalem Post’s Diplomatic Conference on December 6th, 2017, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that, within a decade, Iran stands to emerge from the nuclear deal with not…

By +972 Magazine December 17, 2017

President Donald Trump with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to Trump's departure to Rome at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Israel’s threats could push it into unnecessary war with Iran

Endless threats and the inclination toward a preventative strike are likely to push Israel into an arms race and a much wider and unnecessary war of attrition with Iran. By Shemuel Meir Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are striving together to cancel the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran. Even Netanyahu’s new mantra, that he only…

By +972 Magazine November 13, 2017

President Donald J. Trump speaks with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence at the Pentagon, July 20, 2017. (Department of Defense/Dominique A. Pineiro)

A disastrous outcome if Trump pulls out of the Iran deal

Trump seems determined to go forward with a very hostile program toward Iran, and, although a baseless U.S. pullout from the nuclear deal seems unlikely, even the so-called ‘adults in the room’ are looking for a pretext. By Mitchell Plitnick Donald Trump rarely tries to hide his intentions. When he intends to do something reckless…

By +972 Magazine August 2, 2017

President Donald Trump with senior advisors in a makeshift situation room at Trump’s Mar a Lago estate in Florida, April 7, 2017. (White House photo)

Can the Iran Deal survive the Trump administration?

From a White House flirting with a policy of regime change to a changing political reality in the Gulf to the terror attacks in Tehran, the Iranian nuclear deal’s survival is anything but guaranteed. By Derek Davison The Iran nuclear deal—Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—is facing multiple threats, and whatever hope there may…

By +972 Magazine June 14, 2017

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. (Marc Nozell/CC BY 2.0)

The ‘ultimate deal’: Trump’s coming obsession with Palestine

Many fear that a Trump presidency will, by default, favor Netanyahu and his policies. But if Trump’s past statements on Israel are precedent, what will matter more is whether the ‘dealmaker’ gets to broker the ultimate deal. We’re not even a week in, and the panic is palpable. “Trump Election Already Bad News for Palestinians,”…

By Samer Badawi November 12, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the 2016 AIPAC Police Conference in Washington D.C., March 21, 2016. (Photo courtesy of AIPAC)

The Iran deal is now in critical danger

Whether Trump outright tears up the deal or simply orders his administration to take punitive actions against Iran, the end result may be the same: goodbye to the nuclear deal. By Derek Davison There will be plenty of time to dissect Donald Trump’s surprising victory over Hillary Clinton in last night’s presidential election, and what…

By +972 Magazine November 10, 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the AIPAC conference, March 2, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershon/GPO)

Did AIPAC make a profit off its fight against the Iran deal?

AIPAC may have lost the battle against Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement, but the conservative lobbying group appears to have come out on top nonetheless — to the tune of $30 million. By Eli Clifton Last year, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) led the charge against the Obama administration’s efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution to concerns…

By +972 Magazine September 28, 2016

An IAEA expert demonstrating how the safeguards Next Generation Surveillance System (NGSS) works, March 20, 2015. (Photo: Dean Calma / IAEA)

IAEA: Iran is keeping up its end of the nuclear deal

Yet the deal’s opponents continue to focus on how it could, possibly, one day, under certain circumstances, go wrong. By Derek Davison The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is reporting that Iran has so far complied with its obligations under the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which went into effect in January and limits…

By +972 Magazine September 10, 2016

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano and Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Akhbar Salehi at the signing of a roadmap for the clarification of past and present issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna. Coburg Palace, Vienna, Austria, 14 July 2015. (Photo: Dean Calma / IAEA)

A year later, Iran deal lies are still being recycled

The exact same talking points that were used to oppose the Iran deal before it was ever signed, are now being recycled in an attempt to show it has failed. Not so fast. By Ali Gharib There is going to be a storm of hot takes to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Iran nuclear…

By +972 Magazine July 13, 2016