Who Says Iran Is Impervious to Pressure?
A stiff rebuke from nuclear inspectors just secured access to two sites Tehran had tried to keep off-limits.
Pressure can pay off.
Photographer: Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images
Critics of the Trump administration’s sanctions campaign against Iran have long argued that the Islamic Republic is impervious to pressure. This claim never had a strong foundation: After all, extreme duress — prolonged diplomatic isolation, coupled with crippling economic sanctions — forced Tehran’s theocrats to begin negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear deal with the world powers.
More proof, if it were needed, of Iran’s susceptibility to pressure came this week, when the regime pledged to expand its cooperation with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. This announcement came soon after the United Nations nuclear watchdog rebuked Iran for failing to provide access to two sites where previous nuclear activity is thought to have taken place.