Iran's policy of "strategic" patience with the United States can help it continue to receive the political, security and military dividends of the 2015 nuclear deal and frustrate American and Israeli attempts to undermine the country's power, a political observer said.
In a recent article, Ali Mousavi Khalkhali, the editor-in-chief of the Iranian Diplomacy website, said the Islamic Republic has made a conscious choice to act patiently in the face of US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement and the subsequent sanctions, as it hopes its patience will eventually pay off.
"Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu have so far not achieved what they had expected to gain out of the US exit from the nuclear agreement, particularly because the international community, including Europe, Russia and China, are insisting that the deal should be saved, are backing it and are providing the necessary political support to keep it alive."
Khalkhali noted that the United States has been heaping pressure on Tehran to prompt it to abandon the nuclear deal and lose the political support it currently enjoys on the global stage.
"In other words, measures such as the designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and a decision to end waivers granted to buyers of Iranian crude have all been taken to ruffle Iran's feathers so that it would decide to leave the nuclear accord and they [the Americans] could move toward forming a broad coalition against Iran," he said.
Israeli Demand
On other reasons why the US wants to see Iran quit the nuclear agreement, Khalkhali said it is more an "Israeli" demand because Tel Aviv feels threatened by the end of military and security-related restrictions on the Islamic Republic agreed under the deal.
The analyst pointed out that the deal also helped Iran get out of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which allows UN-mandated external action.
According to the UN Security Council resolution that enshrines the nuclear pact between Iran and major powers, restrictions on heavy weapons and ballistic missile technology are in place until 2020 and 2023, respectively. The resolution leaves in place an arms embargo on conventional weapons until 2020.
"This is one of the main sources of concern for the United States and Israel, and they assume that the only way to deprive Iran of these rights is by provoking it to pull the plug on JCPOA," he said.
Khalkhali noted that Iran has not economically benefited from the nuclear agreement, but this has political, military and security significance.
"Only with patience, political prudence and thoughtful planning can Iran go through this testy period and achieve its objectives," he wrote.
