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Alyssa Acedo

Mr.Kane

English 113A T/TH

25 October 2018

E1.2 Is a Relationship with The United States Worth Keeping?

Iran’s land produces many riches that are not only good for the United States but also

beneficial to the P5+1. The JCPOA is an agreement made with the members of the P5+1: China,

France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, and Germany. The deal that best suits Iran to

keep a good relationship with the United States would be to renegotiate the current JCPOA

because although Iran doesn’t gain much from the deal, it’s the only way the U.S. will support

Iran and the other P5+1 members will continue business with Iran. Iran has many things going

for them, such as their oil, centrifuges, and businesses to capitalize on which many are seeking if

the JCPOA falls apart. This paper will be discussing and breaking down the above aspects to get

a better understanding of Iran’s position within the JCPOA.

I believe a renegotiated deal is a safer platform for both Iran and the United States. The

initial JCPOA, established by Obama, covered a wide variety of issues and was a great start to

building a relationship with Iran. Before Iran’s nuclear deal was put into place, the U.S. forbid

imports and trade investments with Iran. The JCPOA reduced Iran’s bomb break out time from

three months to about one year. The deal also allowed inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites but not

military sites which Trumps revised JCPOA intendeds to include. Trumps deal doesn’t agree

with the current expiration date, about 10 to 15 years, until Iran is able to continue with nuclear

related activity; he wants zero possibility of nuclear activity to arise from Iran. For Iran, the deal
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allows them access to frozen assets, held by the U.S., which is beneficial to their struggling

economy.

I support the renegotiation tactics of shutting down nuclear activity especially when it

violates the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons which requires the use of nuclear energy for

peaceful purposes. When Iran did not want to reduce making uranium nor reduce their centrifuge

count, the U.S. put sanctions on them. The sanctions covered a variety of things that effected

Iran’s economy. Trump says in “Amid war talk, Donald Trump reimposes economic sanctions

on Iran” that "These include sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector, including petroleum-related

transactions, as well as transactions by foreign financial institutions with the Central Bank of

Iran." The signing of the deal lifted many of these sanctions in exchange for their assets,

however, the big profits, such as oil, are still affected for Iran. After the deal was signed, Iran’s

centrifuges count started at 19,000 and was cut by 13,000. Plutonium, a potent bomb fuel, was

made to be inactive and the Uranium was reduced by 95% with the remaining shipped to Russia.

If the deal falls apart, Iran will begin their centrifuges once again.

Iran supplies many countries, including the U.S. and China, with oil; sometimes up to

700,000 barrels a day, according to Dow Jones Institutional News. Iran is also one of the

cheapest priced oil countries which catches many eyes and would definitely hurt the U.S. and

other counties who buy Iranian oil even when it’s bought through a different seller so that it’s not

a direct transaction. Daneshvar also mentions how “the implementation of the JCPOA, those

who had imposed sanctions on Iran's oil have turned into the Islamic republic's oil customers,”

meaning those who wanted the sanctions put in place so bad have brought their business in some

ways to the same owner. Daneshvar further explains how “Many in Iran and around the world
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expected that the implementation of the JCPOA would give a huge boost to the country's

economy after almost a decade of isolation from the global economy.” This in some ways is true

because of the billions freed up for Iran but then again Iran is wasting a substantial amount of

money exporting the material no longer allowed to use under the JCPOA. Let’s not forget the

billions Iran will have access to if they continue abiding by the JCPOA.

One reason as to why the JCPOA should be renegotiated is that the origimal deal placed

under Obama doesn’t cover terrorist activity but Trumps revised JCPOA intends to cover many

things including terrorist activity. Iran will lose funding from the U.S. which will further hurt

their relations with Lebanon which Iran funds over $100 million every year for military supplies

and weapons. It is unclear if the renegotiated JCPOA will allow Iran to further support Lebanon

because Lebanon is connected to Hezbollah who is known for terrorist attacks including

bombing U.S. property. The reason I’m mentioning this is because if the new deal shuts down

terrorism from Iran, is it really being shut down if they have close contact with a full-blown

terrorist group who’s not afraid to attack against the Unites States. This is an example as to why I

support constant monitoring of Iran, because their close terrorist ties could have hidden gems up

their sleeves.

Iran has all these investment opportunities, but the heat from the U.S. makes business

almost untouchable by other countries, such as the P5+1. Daneshvar explains in the article

“Those Who Put Sanctions on Iran-Now Buy its Oil” that “the country's banking system is still

facing considerable difficulties in re-establishing ties with major international banks.” The

reason behind the difficulties is that Iran is in a bind, because if the connection with the U.S.

doesn’t remain, other countries fear doing business with Iran. The members of the P5+1 fear it

jeopardizes relations with the U.S. and it jeopardizes the money within the banks because the
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U.S. will not support business transactions with Iran. Large banks also fear huge fines for doing

business with Iran but small banks that don’t have relations with the U.S. will not be affected.

The U.S. is kind of the power ball in the play because many don’t want to sacrifice their

tie with the Unites States. Iran is still for the deal, including the P5+1 members, but Iran’s

questionable about the U.S. because of their wishy-washy decisions, like pulling out of the

JCPOA. Iran has no problems with the U.S. people, rather the government is the issue according

to Sajud Ibrahimi in, “In Iran ‘Death to America’ doesn’t always mean what it seems.” I don’t

see Iran threating the U.S. with war because they don’t intend on doing harm to the American

people, however, one’s patience can be tested if the problem affects financial gains. The deal will

remain regardless of the United States., by the other members of the deal, and certain sanctions

will be weakened, but I feel Iran will benefit from the financial freedom they receive from a

good standing relationship with the United States.

Iran is losing little with the JCPOA oppose to not having the deal and losing relations

with everyone which will further hurt their financial gains. It’s better suited for Iran to abide by

the JCPOA with the U.S. and deal with the little repercussions it brings because, in the end, they

will obtain more financial freedom. After analyzing the deal and looking at the financial

relationships among all P5+1 members, it’s very clear all countries want to continue the deal as

long as they still receive benefits according to Rouhani in “Rouhani says Iran's commitment to

nuclear deal tied to benefits from it.” Iran is sometimes seen as this country who’s a big threat

because of their nuclear capabilities but I feel as though they use their machinery to bring overall

wealth to their country. If we put ourselves in Iran’s shoes, would it bother you that you have all

these investment opportunities to help your struggling economy but no investors. If I had to
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compare it to a real-life scenario, it’s like google, all these investment opportunities worth

millions but nobody can invest because their money is at play. Most people don’t like when

others play with their financial gains and with that being said, neither does Iran. The JCPOA is

the easiest way for Iran to secure their financial empire.

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Works cited

Farhad Daneshvar . "Those Who Put Sanctions on Iran -- Now Buy Its Oil." Trend

News.English, 26 Jul 2016, ProQuest, libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1806999738?accountid=7285

"Trump's Iran Sanctions Put Oil Giants in a Bind." Dow Jones Institutional News, 09 May 2018.

ProQuest, libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/2036620191?accountid=7285.

Jackson, David. “Amid war talk, Donald Trump Reimposes Economic Sanctions on Iran”

"Rouhani Says Iran's Commitment to Nuclear Deal Tied to Benefits From It." Xinhua News

Agency,29Oct.2017,GeneralOneFile link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511944336/ITOF?u=csunor

thridge&sid=ITOF&xid=f0f171a4. Accessed 27 Sept. 2018.

Walsh, Nick D (E) ‘In Iran, ‘Death to America’ Doesn’t Always Mean What it Seems.”