The Iran Nuclear Deal: The Ethics of Negotiations with a State that Routinely Violates Its Legal Obligations
![handle is hein.journals/hoflr47 and id is 661 raw text is:
THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL:
THE ETHICS OF NEGOTIATIONS
WITH A STATE THAT ROUTINELY
VIOLATES ITS LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
David S. Jonas*
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the inception of negotiations, the Iran Deal (the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA))' has been a contentious
topic: the subject of debate over both the decisions to accept the deal and
to negotiate it in the first place. Iran's history of pushing boundaries with
its nuclear program raised serious principle and pragmatic concerns
about even pursuing such an agreement. To allay these concerns, the
Obama Administration set forth several red lines over which it would
not negotiate.2 The deal that resulted, however, crossed several of those
red lines.
This Article argues that entering into negotiations was proper, as
were the initial red lines set forth by the Obama Administration.3
However, the decision to accept the resulting agreement, with radical
deviations from those red lines, was unjustified, setting a dangerous
precedent almost guaranteed to result in further nuclear weapons
proliferation. To that end, this Article discusses: (1) Iran's obligations
and its noncompliance-focusing particularly on Iran's safeguards
* David S. Jonas is a partner at FH+H, a D.C. area law firm. He served as General Counsel
of the National Nuclear Security Administration and of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
A retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, he also served as nuclear nonproliferation planner for the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. He teaches Nuclear Nonproliferation Law & Policy at Georgetown and George
Washington University Law Schools and has also taught that subject at the U.S. Naval War College.
Elizabeth Urrutia, during her time as a student at the George Washington University Law School,
has provided exceptional writing and research assistance in preparing this Article.
1. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, U.S. DEP'T ST. (July 14, 2015)
https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245317.pdf [hereinafter JCPOA].
2. Teresa Welsh, Did the US. and Iran Get What They Wanted Out of the Iran Deal?, U.S.
NEWS (July 15, 2015), https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/15/how-do-the-red-lines-in-
the-final-iran-nuclear-deal-compare.
3. See infra Part III.
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The Iran Nuclear Deal: The Ethics of Negotiations with a State that Routinely Violates Its Legal Obligations
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