(C. Douglas Golden, The Western Journal) Just over a week ago, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. If you thought America’s death spiral of shame would be complete once that weekend was over, however, you were wrong.
Related Kamala Harris’s Flight Delayed for Three Hours in Singapore Before Departing to Vietnam
Source – The Federalist Papers
by C. Douglas Golden, The Western Journal, August 23rd, 2021
Not only has the world watched the days in between as the situation in Afghanistan grew more humiliating for the Biden administration and the United States as a whole, but on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that the United Nations’ atomic watchdog confirmed Iran wasn’t just producing nuclear material in contravention of the 2015 nuclear agreement; it is rapidly approaching the capability of producing a nuclear weapon.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi said in February “at his inspectors had confirmed that a small amount of uranium metal, 3.6 grams, had been produced at Iran’s Isfahan plant,” according to the AP.
Iran, of course, says this is for its civilian nuclear program.
“Iran has no credible need to produce uranium metal, which has direct relevance to nuclear weapons development,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement, the AP reported, calling it “unconstructive and inconsistent with a return to mutual compliance.”
“Such escalations will not provide Iran negotiating leverage in any renewed talks on a mutual return to JCPOA compliance and will only lead to Iran’s further isolation,” Price said.
He added that “Iran’s nuclear advances have a bearing on our view of returning to the JCPOA” in wording that suggested even the Biden administration is losing patience with Iran’s intransigence.
“We are not imposing a deadline for negotiations, but this window will not remain open indefinitely,” Price said.
The administration of former President Donald Trump initially withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, citing the deal’s shortcomings, particularly in regard to Iran’s ability to wage conventional warfare and engage in proxy wars like the one in Yemen.
A primer on what uranium enrichment is and why it’s important, courtesy of the BBC:
Natural uranium contains about 0.7 percent of U-235, an element needed for both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
However, centrifuges that can spin at supersonic speeds can separate U-238 from U-235 and create nuclear fuel. For commercial power plants, this is at 3 to 5 percent U-235 concentration.
As part of the JCPOA, Iran isn’t supposed to have more than 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of low-enriched uranium. It’s exceeded that stockpile — but it’s gone into more worrying territory as well.
Iran has started to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, up to 200 grams of it. That’s quite a bit and, although not weapons-grade, it would be used in research reactors.
And then there’s the issue of “breakout time” — the amount of time necessary to acquire enough fissile material for at least one nuclear device.
In Iran’s case, back in April, experts said the country’s “breakout time” had been reduced from one year to three months.
“The US-based Arms Control Association (ACA) said that once Iran had accumulated 170kg of 20%-enriched uranium, it would be able produce one bomb’s worth, or 25kg, of uranium enriched to weapons-grade in less than two months,” the BBC reported in April.
“Iran had about 17kg of uranium enriched to 20% purity as of mid-February and it has said it plans to produce 120kg in total during 2021. It is also currently producing nine grams per hour of 60%-enriched uranium.”
In the meantime, the United States and Iran are at an impasse. The Biden administration wants to rejoin the agreement but insists Iran return to commitments under the deal. Iran, meanwhile, wants the United States to remove all sanctions first.
The Biden administration has countered that it would only remove sanctions that have to do with its nuclear program and not those that involve terrorism or human rights, among other things.
In other words, this makes a deal unlikely. Iran continues to get closer to a nuclear weapon. And it all happened as we’re dealing with the biggest blow to U.S. diplomatic power since the end of the Vietnam War, our catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
If this isn’t a death spiral of shame, it’s difficult to tell what is.
Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
The news is important to all people because it is where we come to know new things about the world, which leads to the development of more life goals that lead to life wisdom. The news also serves as a social connection tool, as we tend to relate to those who know about and believe the things we do. With the power of an open truth-seeking mind in hand, the individual can grow wise and the collective can prosper.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammatical mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
Support our work! (Avoid Big Tech PayPal and Patreon)DIRECT DONATION
Leave a Reply