The parameters of the future, comprehensive agreement between Iran and the world powers, as made public by the US administration last week, highlight the problematic nature of the ostensible agreement between Iran and the P5+1. The coming three months promise continued negotiations that are meant to result in a final agreement that would significantly reduce the danger of the Iranian nuclear program becoming a military program for producing nuclear weapons

What follows are insights on the parameters made public and policy recommendations for continued negotiations with Iran about the nuclear issue. Not least among them is the emphasis on the need for honest, credible dialogue between the government of Israel and the US administration, which would both help roll back the Iranian nuclear program and distance Iran from the nuclear threshold for the long term, as well as encourage agreement between the US and Israel with regard to the response in case Iran breaches the agreement, as North Korea did in its case.

Finality of the agreed principles: There is at yet no signed agreement. What emerged at Lausanne is an unsigned joint statement of principles, to serve as a basis for further negotiation until an agreement is reached by June 30, 2015. To be sure, this statement was accompanied by a US document that discusses in detail most of the key issues, but the guideline whereby “until everything is finalized, nothing is finalized” must hold true for the Lausanne statement. Barely 24 hours elapsed after the US statement was issued before Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif blamed the administration for making public a memorandum of understandings that does not reflect precisely the “agreement.” Therefore, one should note the deafening silence of Iran’s Supreme Leader on this matter, since late in the previous decade he failed to approve an agreement forged by then President Ahmadinejad with Turkey and Brazil to impose restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program (in context of the Tehran Research Reactor – TRR).

Recommendation #1: The Iranian response to the US document and the Supreme Leader’s position on this matter must be observed closely. It is important to demand that the Supreme Leader issue a fatwa against nuclear arms – mentioned by President Obama, but which has yet to be heard in Khamenei’s own voice.

Significance of the principles of the agreement: This is neither a “very bad agreement” nor an “achievement of historic significance.” Rather, this is a compromise that contains important achievements for the major powers in terms of setting back the Iranian nuclear program and imposing key restrictions on future development of the Iranian nuclear program as well as unprecedented supervision. Conversely, the “agreement” provides Iran with legitimacy as a nuclear threshold state, allows it some leeway in making progress on research and development, and provides it with significant resources to continue its support for subversion and terrorism.

Read the article in full at Times of Israel.