Statement from Peace Corps Iran Association Board of Directors
13 February 2021
As the Board of Directors for the Peace Corps Iran Association, we represent the aspirations for peace and Iranian-American understanding of the 1,800 Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Iran between 1962 and 1976. In that light, we supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and were dismayed by the relentless hostility of the Trump administration towards Iran, capped by exiting the JCPOA (while Iran was in compliance) and reimposing and tightening sanctions. Under President Biden the United States has the opportunity, indeed, the obligation, in the interests of both countries to renew diplomacy.
During his election campaign President Biden indicated a commitment to returning the US to full membership in the JCPOA on a ‘compliance for compliance’ basis. The implication is that returning to compliance means implementation on the part of both the US and Iran in a way that indicates good faith on both sides.
We are concerned that recent statements from President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken indicate an expectation that Iran must take steps back to compliance before the US will match them. Recognizing that in May 2018 it was the United States that violated the terms of the JCPOA and accompanying UN Security Council Resolution 2231, our country has no standing to insist that the other party take the first steps.
The facts are these:
- Iran was in full compliance with its JCPOA obligations for a full year after Trump pulled the US out. Only then did Iran gradually walk back from its JCPOA obligations, but in a way that is reversable.
- Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ strategy has been a ‘maximum failure’ as over the past two years Iran’s nuclear program has been significantly ramped up; Iran’s support to its favored actors across the region has increased; pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq have again targeted American forces; and Iranian missile technology has progressed.
- The ‘maximum pressure’ strategy has exacted a heavy humanitarian toll on the Iranian people.
- Trump’s policies have seriously undercut the reputation and influence of moderates in the Iranian government. With elections coming in June, it is likely that moderates such as the current president Rouhani, who supports the JCPOA, will be replaced by hardliners.
The Iranian election season will ramp up in mid-March. If the Biden administration takes serious steps towards returning to JCPOA compliance in the coming weeks, the electoral prospects of moderate candidates in Iran will be enhanced and with them the prospects for dialog between the Biden team and their counterparts in Tehran.
Biden’s inspired choice of Rob Malley as his Special Envoy for Iran is most welcome. Malley must be empowered immediately to work directly with Iranian counterparts and with the other signatories to the JCPOA. Iran diplomacy must return to professional channels and protocols and not be constrained by poorly articulated statements to the press.
The US now has a president and national security team committed to diplomacy with Iran on the nuclear and other regional issues. Reviving the JCPOA is the first, indeed prerequisite, step for subsequent multilateral diplomacy on these other issues. The window is fast closing for returning the US and Iran to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. Now is the time for the US to take concrete steps to rejoin the JCPOA in discussion with Iran and the other JCPOA signatories.
Board of Directors
Peace Corps Iran Association
Comments