Letters: Willful ignorance deserves no respect

The United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, Germany and France signed a critically acclaimed landmark agreement with Iran 11 years ago during the Obama administration. Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, the deal placed restrictions on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Proponents said, “It blocks every possible pathway Iran could use to build a nuclear bomb while ensuring — through a comprehensive, intrusive, and unprecedented verification and transparency regime — that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful moving forward.” Under the 150-page deal, Iran “significantly reduced its nuclear program and accepted strict monitoring and verification safeguards to ensure its program is solely for peaceful purposes,” according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

The JCPOA closed all of Iran’s nuclear reactors, eliminated 98 percent of its nuclear fissure materials, and prevented Iran’s ability to make a nuclear bomb. Each of these conclusions was made by the International Atomic Energy Agency after numerous on-site inspections and 24/7 intrusive monitoring.

The U.S. and European nations lifted sanctions only attributed to Iran’s nuclear program, releasing $1.7 billion in frozen Iranian assets. The money was Iran’s. America did not pay any money. The fact that Iran kept its promises was verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Should Iran try to build a nuclear weapon, sanctions would go back into effect. And sanctions not related to the nuclear agreement were left in place, according to the Council on Foreign Affairs.

Israel did not sign the agreement because the deal had 10- and 15-year sunset limits on certain restrictions, leaving the possible need for renegotiation to a different time under different circumstances. There was no likelihood of securing a better deal in 2015 after negotiating for two years but 10 years without nukes was 10 years without nukes. 

Less than three years later, Trump cancelled the agreement, calling it “stupid” and “horrible.” Those were his opinions. And like so many of his supporters, he didn’t care about facts. He just had “feelings” that demanded respect from the world, in his opinion. He also did not negotiate a new deal. 

Biden was unable to bring Iran back to the negotiating table because Iran did not trust American promises and, after the Trump cancellation, it had free reign to do as it pleased without supervision.

“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” Trump said in 2018. “The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen.”

Yes. We do. We’re living in it. People are dying. More will die. 

Trump cancelled the deal and then did nothing. As a result, Iran restarted its nuclear reactors and enriched enough plutonium to develop ten nuclear bombs, according to American and Israeli intelligence sources. That is why we are now at war. Iran kills Americans, directly and through its proxy militias. Its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting the world economy, including ours. 

And Iran’s negotiating position to end Trump’s Iran War is American reparation payments of several hundred billion taxpayer dollars and control of the Strait of Hormuz without limitations on Iran’s nuclear program.

And, as we recently read in this newspaper, our president is still defended by Americans who demand respect for opinions they admit have no factual support. No thank you. Respect is earned.

And you don’t earn it by choosing ignorance. Ignorance kills.

— Chuck Wieland,

Madera