Thomas R. Pickering: Whatever happened to the Iran nuclear deal?

Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 29, 2017

Whatever happened to the Iran nuclear deal? It used to be a central issue in U.S. foreign policy. We talked about it all the time. We even argued over whether we should bomb Iran. In fact, it is now a “done deal” and all sides began implementation in early 2016 requiring severe limits and effective monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program.

Dr. Jessica Tuchman Mathews: Why President Trump should keep the Iran Deal

New Hampshire Union Leader, January 25 ,2017

It has been a year and a half since agreement was reached on the nuclear deal between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. In that time, Iran has met its obligations to export, destroy or put in monitored storage the components of its nuclear program. It has kept very close to the allowed limits in a few cases — a typical form of Iranian brinksmanship — but where it has temporarily exceeded a limit it has been by a tiny and militarily meaningless amount of a non-nuclear material.

Jim Morrill: Diplomats argue for preserving Iran nuclear deal

The Charlotte Observer, January 18, 2017

With a new administration about to take office, a veteran diplomat and a national security expert told a Charlotte audience Wednesday that it would be a mistake to abandon the nuclear deal with Iran.

“Better to keep it and improve on it,” veteran ambassador Thomas Pickering told a World Affairs Council luncheon.

Thomas Pickering and Jim Walsh: Guess who we don’t talk about these days? Iran.

Barbara Slavin and Ryan Crocker: Trump can preserve nuclear deal while reviewing Iran policy

Denver Post, December 12, 2016

A year after its activation, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has achieved its chief purpose: slowing Iran’s nuclear advances and insuring through tight verification that the country cannot amass sufficient material to make a single nuclear weapon.

Thomas R. Pickering: Four ways that Trump can keep relations steady with Iran

Dallas News, December 2, 2016

Our new president will face many tough challenges in devising a strategy to assure America’s security. He will be the first since 1979 who will not have to immediately devise a strategy to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

In Federation briefing, former Ambassador Pickering says Iran is sticking to nuclear agreement

The Jewish Observer, September 28, 2016

Iran is complying with the historic agreement struck last year to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, former U.S. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering said during a briefing last month for board members and major donors of the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle.

Thomas R. Pickering: What should our new president expect with Iran?

The Tennessean, September 15, 2016

Our new president will face many tough challenges in devising a strategy to assure America’s future security. But the president who takes office Jan. 20 will be the first since 1979 who will not have to devise immediately a strategy to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

Jim Walsh and Frank G. Wisner: Let’s be diplomatic: We can leverage the Iran deal to help solve problems

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 13, 2016

Americans will elect a new president in November. That president will face many challenges, none more dangerous than the chaos in the Middle East. Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us we cannot manage the region’s crises without partners or by military means alone.

Gary Sick and Frank G. Wisner: The Iran nuclear deal has been a Middle East game-changer

Cleveland Plain Dealer,  June 12, 2016 

Two years ago, a new war in the Middle East appeared very likely. The government of Iran, despite enduring the most severe international sanctions ever imposed on a noncombatant power, insisted on increasing its nuclear program.

 Jessica Mathews and William Luers: How Boeing could benefit from Iran nuclear deal

The Seattle Times, June 6, 2016

LAST year’s agreement to reduce dramatically Iran’s nuclear program also authorized Boeing to negotiate the sale of commercial aircraft to Iran.

This is just one of the hundreds of provisions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is the agreement reached with Iran after complex and hard-fought negotiations by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States. In exchange for drastically reducing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, this groundbreaking agreement has lifted some of the heavy sanctions imposed on Iran.

Jessica Mathews and Richard Nephew: A New Start in U.S. – Iran Relations?

The Alger, May 5, 2016

In 2009, former U.S. diplomat Lloyd Rollins from Columbus expressed concern to the The Columbus Dispatch that “the U.S. and Iran are still without diplomatic relations and still quarreling over nuclear sites, weapons programs and human rights.” He expressed sadness over the intractability of U.S.-Iranian disputes. But Rollins was no ordinary retired diplomat; he was also a former hostage in Iran, one of 66 held captive in Iran during the now infamous hostage crisis of 1979-1980.

How A 2007 Debate Gaffe Paved The Way For A Deal That Will Define Obama’s Legacy

Huffington Post July 14, 2015

The agreement was the conclusion of 20 months of negotiations between Iran, the U.S. and five world powers with vastly divergent foreign policies. Its supporters hailed it as a historic breakthrough of international diplomacy, a defining moment in nuclear non-proliferation, and the start of a potential sea change in Middle East politics.

Bunker-Buster Bomb No Sure Way to Stop Iran If Talks Fail

Bloomberg Business June 30, 2015

If negotiations in Vienna to curb Iran’s nuclear program fail, however, even an airstrike with the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator — the largest non-nuclear bomb ever developed — would delay Iran’s nuclear efforts by only a few years, according to U.S. defense officials and private analysts. Israeli forces could do far less, these experts say.

Following the announcement on November 24, 2014, that Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) were extending the Vienna talks on Iran’s nuclear program, pressure has been building in Washington and Tehran against the negotiations. Domestic opposition in both countries has been empowered by this delay. Some in the U.S. Congress have even called for an end to the negotiations or threatened new sanctions. Read More

What’s the Way Forward?

Essential Pittsburgh, NPR Radio Interview with Jessica Tuchman Mathews. September 9, 2014

It has been months since President Obama announced an interim deal had been struck between the group known as P5+1 and Iranian leadership over Iran’s nuclear program. Many open questions remain as the deliberations move forward and the details of the agreement emerge. How will this play out? Read More

Cuba and Iran: A New Era for American Diplomacy?
The Huffington Post, January 2015

President Obama has taken charge of “trying something different” with Cuba and Iran by initiating discrete and patient diplomatic approaches with two of America’s most entrenched adversaries. He seeks to replace policies that have failed to achieve America’s objectives. The President has directly taken on the powerful yet waning domestic and Congressional opposition to changing the bankrupt strategies. Read More