Khamenei Will Not Compromise
Meir Javedanfar recently argued in Al-Monitor that sanctions will force Iran to accede to Western demands on its nuclear program. Reza Sanati responds that instead of compromise, the Western negotiating tack is likely to exacerbate the conflict.
Meir Javedanfar recently argued in Al-Monitor that sanctions will force Iran to concede to Western demands on its nuclear program. His main argument is that the Western assault on Iran’s overall economy is so suffocating that rising domestic discontent will eventually lead to an Iranian “compromise” position in the space of “two to three years.”
Unfortunately, like so much of the conventional thinking among proponents of sanctions and “pressure,” his argument is built upon a series of fallacies that taken together, present an inaccurate picture of the troubled relationship between Iran and the West, and ultimately makes escalation toward conflict far more likely.
Here are four reasons why Khamenei will, in fact, not compromise.
The first is semantic, on the actual meaning of compromise. Javedanfar claims that sanctions will eventually force Iran to agree to the demands of the US and its allies on its nuclear program: close its fortified Fordow facility, ship out all of its 20%-enriched uranium abroad, answer all outstanding questions for the International Atomic Energy Agency, submit to a tougher inspection regime, and drop demands for Western recognition of its right to enrich uranium until “outstanding issues have been resolved.”
